tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64332561258958206132017-08-11T08:20:01.223-07:00Mommy's Best Games' Dev logWelcome dearest reader to MBG's log flume of game development mayhem.
Read on for stories of horror and hilarity!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.comBlogger205125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-46404240963407548162017-08-09T09:06:00.001-07:002017-08-09T09:06:03.162-07:00The Easy EditorI've spent the summer making the level editor for <a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><b><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></b></a> great!<br />And the team from <a href="http://www.supersoul.co/">Super Soul</a> in nearby Lexington have been working on improving the framerate for Xbox One so that's feeling good too.<br /><br />Our '<i>Mario Maker</i>' style level editor has had most of the tough programming and UI accomplished. We are now still fixing small bugs and making sure all the objects are usable in the new UI system. The 'advanced' editor is still available, and usable since there are some objects that are too complicated to work in the Easy Editor, at least currently. But the Easy Editor is ready to go in general and we've already made some fun levels using the new editor.<br /><br />Ready for some screens?<br /><br />Check 'em out!<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DjJKrvH99lU/WYsimnZOXuI/AAAAAAAAB6g/uVJwQK0csx426sNHMXf10li-ybCqtu6JwCLcBGAs/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-45-17-61.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DjJKrvH99lU/WYsimnZOXuI/AAAAAAAAB6g/uVJwQK0csx426sNHMXf10li-ybCqtu6JwCLcBGAs/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-45-17-61.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This level is from World 2, you can see the arrows for the butane torches.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7WzDsq7fhgQ/WYsipKy4HSI/AAAAAAAAB6o/wlI8mCxIF8wocBcyL09jiqOKL8GfKvUnwCLcBGAs/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-53-01-21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7WzDsq7fhgQ/WYsipKy4HSI/AAAAAAAAB6o/wlI8mCxIF8wocBcyL09jiqOKL8GfKvUnwCLcBGAs/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-53-01-21.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a World 3 level complete with bowling pins.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtKzuYIs7H4/WYsioeDUNGI/AAAAAAAAB6k/_MWmz29-zYotvBtk5slwhjUec_YcHGzIACLcBGAs/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-53-56-30.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtKzuYIs7H4/WYsioeDUNGI/AAAAAAAAB6k/_MWmz29-zYotvBtk5slwhjUec_YcHGzIACLcBGAs/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2017-08-09%2B10-53-56-30.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this is the drop down "object palette" which lets you pick a new swathe of things to place.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />&nbsp;And here's a cool animated gif of the level editor in action!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BLyqUl2t1iY/WYsyOtYfMmI/AAAAAAAAB64/IzZWfCKPjvosFHlIgBtaZxfIe7uaKcomwCLcBGAs/s1600/PEB_editor_poolLevel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BLyqUl2t1iY/WYsyOtYfMmI/AAAAAAAAB64/IzZWfCKPjvosFHlIgBtaZxfIe7uaKcomwCLcBGAs/s400/PEB_editor_poolLevel.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Use the "eye-dropper" tool to quickly copy an object in your level and place it.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Work continues now on Worlds 4 and 5 and working to increase the framerate and improving menus. <br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-11297391588896407462017-05-03T06:46:00.002-07:002017-05-03T06:46:42.750-07:00Mario Maker's Good and Bad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jfp3MWueiNA/WQgHn-8WoCI/AAAAAAAAB2A/G0Z2tAXatBYOncVjmJqKMobpz-Lx2VNFACEw/s1600/20170501_110806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jfp3MWueiNA/WQgHn-8WoCI/AAAAAAAAB2A/G0Z2tAXatBYOncVjmJqKMobpz-Lx2VNFACEw/s400/20170501_110806.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>We are working hard on the level editor for <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/339090"><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></a> to make it super easy to use, and very powerful so everyone can have fun making action-packed, and barf-packed levels to share with their friends via Steam Workshop.<br /><br />While <b><i>Mario Maker </i></b>is boosted by the legendary Super Mario Bros. brand, it still has plenty of excellent design elements for a level editor/level sharing system.<br /><br />This is my detailed breakdown of Mario Maker's design, and what we'll be keeping and dropping for <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/339090"><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></a>. This is <b>NOT </b>about designing the levels themselves, this is about how Mario Maker itself is designed. There's lots of small notes here that may help others creating a game with an integrated level editor.<br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Good</h2><h3>Easy and Fast Playing and Editing</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJIVdLwQBQ/WQgPzhfK_EI/AAAAAAAAB4c/mOAXiboSORkyOUBt5xcS794bwmZnamEKwCEw/s1600/20170502_004255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJIVdLwQBQ/WQgPzhfK_EI/AAAAAAAAB4c/mOAXiboSORkyOUBt5xcS794bwmZnamEKwCEw/s400/20170502_004255.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Clicking <b>"Play"</b> drops you into the level within a second. It's very fast and feels great.<br />This also starts the player *wherever you are* in the editor at the moment. It doesn't always start you from the proper level start.<br />It starts you at the 'cursor' point, where Mario is. This is very useful for testing your level but could be a little confusing at first.<br />If you want to play from the level start, you have to use the "Select" button on the controller. (That part is strange--you'd think the Start button would start the game. The Start button opens the main menu.)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-iZRQcOHi8/WQgP01Yd5vI/AAAAAAAAB4c/dvHyzoxp260amxjgKIiOA9KLcT-_LSQOACEw/s1600/20170502_004300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-iZRQcOHi8/WQgP01Yd5vI/AAAAAAAAB4c/dvHyzoxp260amxjgKIiOA9KLcT-_LSQOACEw/s400/20170502_004300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Clicking <b>"Edit"</b> in the level you are playing pulls you right back out to the editor. The camera and the Mario cursor is now updated to match where the camera moved during playing the level. I'm thinking for Pig Eat Ball we'll have a 'snap' button to pull you back to the level start. This has an S-G system at the bottom that doesn't make sense for our game.<br /><br /><h3>Single-Touch and Shake Mechanics</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BtGbkjH5gpY/WQgPyroU46I/AAAAAAAAB4c/-UTMuYpyx8EGbLfPHEwmWPPaZR_YunAsACEw/s1600/20170502_004107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BtGbkjH5gpY/WQgPyroU46I/AAAAAAAAB4c/-UTMuYpyx8EGbLfPHEwmWPPaZR_YunAsACEw/s400/20170502_004107.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>There's a lot of power built-in to the single-tap/hold system. For example the 'moving platform' track system has a lot of power and control built-in. If you click and drag the end points, you can extend the track. If you tap the end points, you can remove them creating a 'dead-end' track. Grabbing and shaking curves in the tracks can make them diagonal, or curved. Dropping enemies and objects onto the track attaches them to move with the tracks.<br /><br /><h3>'End-Point' Grabbing</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOFewWREN4Y/WQgPw0NrxyI/AAAAAAAAB4c/FyZs7qFsE8glQuA95a7ZtK53wdyZLJ--wCEw/s1600/20170502_004227_Burst01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xOFewWREN4Y/WQgPw0NrxyI/AAAAAAAAB4c/FyZs7qFsE8glQuA95a7ZtK53wdyZLJ--wCEw/s400/20170502_004227_Burst01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>If you grab the end point or edge of some objects, a special yellow dot with arrows shows up which lets you see that you can move and change the shape of that object. It creates a lot of extra depth of changes to certain objects.<br /><h3>Rotating Objects</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWpjGUtkbhw/WQgHucng6iI/AAAAAAAAB3w/Ay1RW6L4QHQ9hlAUMOAuL-DzCC8IoEoTwCEw/s1600/20170501_140838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWpjGUtkbhw/WQgHucng6iI/AAAAAAAAB3w/Ay1RW6L4QHQ9hlAUMOAuL-DzCC8IoEoTwCEw/s400/20170501_140838.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>If an object can rotate, a yellow circle with a black arrow appears in the middle after you place it. Tapping this arrow rotates it 90 degrees. This seems like a good way to embed a new, contextual control, as not every object can/should be rotated. Some other objects rotate near the edge, but the concept is the same. The contextual rotation button appears as needed.<br /><h3>Erasing Objects </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GtEovsrpQwE/WQgPyenxGEI/AAAAAAAAB4c/dIXwzwlCrAQTIyhb4FGq5ipH6t_hUaSBQCEw/s1600/20170502_004134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GtEovsrpQwE/WQgPyenxGEI/AAAAAAAAB4c/dIXwzwlCrAQTIyhb4FGq5ipH6t_hUaSBQCEw/s400/20170502_004134.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Erasing is a "mode" in Mario Maker. What's nice is it moves the object list off the top of the screen to make it more apparent what's happening. However the "boing" noise is really annoying, but maybe it's there to help remind people they are erasing? In any case it's pretty annoying. You can get to the eraser mode by holding two buttons or by clicking the icon on the right side.<br /><h3>Game Changes </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ChThZjAL5wg/WQgHtLtrvdI/AAAAAAAAB28/sUUZk5SvW2oKWKYT8xCGvxEmAkcJPh5owCEw/s1600/20170501_115327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ChThZjAL5wg/WQgHtLtrvdI/AAAAAAAAB28/sUUZk5SvW2oKWKYT8xCGvxEmAkcJPh5owCEw/s400/20170501_115327.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Changing the game-style by a single-drop down button is great. However it can be confusing that certain objects are particular to certain games.<br /><h3>World Changes </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFajy7e6bqQ/WQgIgsb6XVI/AAAAAAAAB30/7y-dww8t-O4o5W7l8qYNF1t2WlAJnR-VgCLcB/s1600/20170501_115444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFajy7e6bqQ/WQgIgsb6XVI/AAAAAAAAB30/7y-dww8t-O4o5W7l8qYNF1t2WlAJnR-VgCLcB/s400/20170501_115444.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In a similar way you can change the world to underwater, or air-ship or more by using the area drop-down on the left.This system, of picking the setting can greatly change the gameplay (such as putting Mario under water).<br /><br /><h3>Object List Palette</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t6-fqopY8Ls/WQgHttm8S6I/AAAAAAAAB3w/vQADGnh_NCoZfBzk2w763ZIganGocTpRgCEw/s1600/20170501_115517_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t6-fqopY8Ls/WQgHttm8S6I/AAAAAAAAB3w/vQADGnh_NCoZfBzk2w763ZIganGocTpRgCEw/s400/20170501_115517_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The object palette at the top is a good way to give the player some objects to place, but not overwhelm them. You can touch the drop-down arrow to see a full list of objects. You can also customize each palette by dragging and dropping objects (after clicking a Customize button). Having only one part of the list can feel limiting but the large icons support the couch-experience (with players sitting an average 6 feet away from the TV).<br /><br /><h3>Timer and Scrolling</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NiuN3GvLlDk/WQgHtzJDFbI/AAAAAAAAB3w/qIR8zZibQII8lCNi57kCTAdJKht3Gf0UgCEw/s1600/20170501_115724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NiuN3GvLlDk/WQgHtzJDFbI/AAAAAAAAB3w/qIR8zZibQII8lCNi57kCTAdJKht3Gf0UgCEw/s400/20170501_115724.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The clock in the upper right leads to a menu for the time limit for the level and the scroll speed. It may not look like a button though, so that's a bit of a UI problem.<br /><br /><h3>Destroying/Resetting a Level</h3>The rocket in the lower right can reset the level to blank, if you hold it for 3 seconds. It has a fun<br />animation too. Again though, it may not be apparent that this will reset the level.<br /><br /><h3>Automatic Layering</h3>Instead of giving direct control and power to the player as to which layer holds which of your objects, this auto-layers all objects for you. You lose a little control, but it makes the interface and controls much easier to not have to decide to put certain background objects in the background layer, and mid-ground objects in a mid-ground layer, for instance.<br /><br /><h3>Smart Object Placement</h3>Background objects will overwrite other background objects if you drag them around/place new ones. If you have a wall object selected, drawing new objects won't delete the enemy as you draw. But if you have a spike block selected, this can draw over other walls.<br /><br />If you try to touch-place an enemy on a wall block, you'll end up grabbing the wall object, allowing you to move it. If you touch background/sky, you'll place a new enemy. And then if you drag the enemy, it lets you drag the enemy over the wall.<br />Enemies that were placed on hard walls, are simply deleted on level start.<br />You can tell a lot of 'invisible' work went into these interactions to get them to be intuitive.<br /><h3>Undo System</h3>Undo and Redo is a lot of work for the game developer, but they have it here. It's obviously a very useful feature for the player.<br />This is in the 'dog' icon on the lower right. It's cute to have it characterized with a dog (or simply any cute icon) but it's not intuitive to have it behind a random icon.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DQCKvJuM9sw/WQliFnDniJI/AAAAAAAAB5g/87RpBHWeg7YfqYZbiepWDFRc6MAhA6nSgCLcB/s1600/undo_redo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DQCKvJuM9sw/WQliFnDniJI/AAAAAAAAB5g/87RpBHWeg7YfqYZbiepWDFRc6MAhA6nSgCLcB/s320/undo_redo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The expected Undo/Redo arrow icons</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Typically Undo/Redo are slightly curved arrows pointing left/right. Not to be confused with "rotate" circular arrows.<br />Here is an <a href="https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/83723/why-are-the-undo-and-redo-arrow-icons-commonly-round">interesting breakdown </a>as to how we got to the "slightly curved arrow" icons for undo/redo which most people recognize. <br /><br />Also notice there is no <b>Redo </b>option in Mario Maker which would be nice.<br /><br /><br /><h3>Changing Level Size</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTdQJkUTEFY/WQgHwVVEX6I/AAAAAAAAB3w/M1DcXaevc6YrZMf2z-MuPUVnlG94jBBIwCEw/s1600/20170501_142220_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTdQJkUTEFY/WQgHwVVEX6I/AAAAAAAAB3w/M1DcXaevc6YrZMf2z-MuPUVnlG94jBBIwCEw/s400/20170501_142220_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />The "S" and "G" buttons at the bottom show how big the level is, how big it could be, and easily let you reshape the size of the level. That said, the goal of the level must always be on the far right, and players can't really make a level in which you go past the goal, then backtrack, or put a goal to the left of the start. <br />The game world is a maximum of 2 screens high. This is shown in the grid, with an extra thick line between screens. The maximum width is 10 screens wide which is a good sized level. <br />You can reposition the goal to be just higher than 1 screen high, but not very far into that second screen.<br />This restriction though on level sizes doesn't allow for interesting, vertical level designs to be created.<br /><br />For Pig Eat Ball, at this point, I'm thinking we should probably include some simple way to snap the player's camera back to the player start when in the editor. <br /><h3>Main-Sub Areas</h3>It's easy to create multiple areas to go between with tubes and doors. By placing a tube in the level, the way Mario would normally get access to a sub-section, the sub-section interface is unlocked. It's confusing in a way that interface is not always there but greyed out. But is intuitive once you consider how Mario normally would reach that area.<br /><br /><h3>Level-Sharing via Code ID</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w75TvI3450E/WQgHsPTUYJI/AAAAAAAAB2w/7wqhUwI6SXYhqVrSRVIv8cQ-43acPGQ9QCEw/s1600/20170501_114639_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w75TvI3450E/WQgHsPTUYJI/AAAAAAAAB2w/7wqhUwI6SXYhqVrSRVIv8cQ-43acPGQ9QCEw/s400/20170501_114639_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Giving the player the option to upload their level then share a 16-digit alpha-numeric code for other users to find their level is great. Finding a particular player in the level sharing list would be tough. But with this code, players can zero in more easily on a special level that everyone is talking about.<br /><br /><b>Important! </b>The ID code is shared on the level start.This is very good, because if a person is watching someone else play this on video stream, they can pause the video, see the ID, and type it in, to play that level. It's a low-tech way to share videos, but because it's embedded in the level start (and video) it's a easy way to always make sure the code is shared.<br /><br /><b>UNLESS,</b> people compile videos together and edit out the level start. Therefore, could be even better, to have the title and code faintly displayed on the top of all levels. <br /><h3>Game-ifying Uploads </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SI_4a8aSDxc/WQgHpTOAgiI/AAAAAAAAB3w/xx3aBIQWTlI8kTjiMHkoDxrZQ8qddlbpACEw/s1600/20170501_111524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SI_4a8aSDxc/WQgHpTOAgiI/AAAAAAAAB3w/xx3aBIQWTlI8kTjiMHkoDxrZQ8qddlbpACEw/s400/20170501_111524.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>If players 'star' (mark it as liked) your level that you've uploaded, you'll earn medals. Medals are an outward show of ability and success as a level creator. Medals increase the total number of courses you're allowed to upload. This area also has a list of all courses you've played from others.<br /><br /><h3>Starring versus Likes versus Favorites</h3>Starring a course is the equivalent of a "Like" on Facebook. It's a thumbs up that says you enjoyed the course. It lets the Maker know you liked it, which in turn bumps up their recognition publicly. You can find courses you've 'starred' in your Mii icon settings area. This acts as a 'favorites' section. It's interesting that "Star/Like" encourages a player to think about how they are rewarding the Maker, but calling it a "Favorite" would keep the player himself more of the subject. It's the "player's favorite" versus a level they "Liked" or "Starred". One is a reward for the Maker, the other more about the players.<br /><br />A single star/like is obviously more simple than a 5 star system or anything like that. But it takes a little more to explain it's actually a 'review' system for the level. Maybe this could be more clear if the ending said "Review this Level" message above the star.<br /><br /><br /><h3>Makers </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w75TvI3450E/WQgHsPTUYJI/AAAAAAAAB3w/dUMo34or19E9ex8mrlGQo-xl2REmp2eYQCEw/s1600/20170501_114639_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w75TvI3450E/WQgHsPTUYJI/AAAAAAAAB3w/dUMo34or19E9ex8mrlGQo-xl2REmp2eYQCEw/s400/20170501_114639_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Makers system is great way to showcase user-created levels which encourages more people to make more high-quality levels. This part was really important in terms of supporting users making good levels and helping them share their levels. It helped makers get fans of their levels, and then be inspired to make more levels. Supporting and highlighting the Makers helped the game grow the community and put a good experience forward to people coming to play others levels.<br /><br /><h3>Full In-Game Manual</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5WVkNbTeQYo/WQgHrresqhI/AAAAAAAAB3w/3dQnDzg4bhYkyj89jG0X5F1NJBq-TH7KwCEw/s1600/20170501_113605_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5WVkNbTeQYo/WQgHrresqhI/AAAAAAAAB3w/3dQnDzg4bhYkyj89jG0X5F1NJBq-TH7KwCEw/s400/20170501_113605_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>A very detailed manual explaining all parts of the editor and game exists. Although most people wouldn't want to spend the time reading through it, it's great to have as an option and may have tidbits some creators missed. Though I would imagine most will probably try online before looking in the in-game manual.<br /><br />But, that said, I learned that you can 'see' the ghost-path of mario if you played and died in your level, by clicking on the mario icon on the bottom. I didn't know this, and it wasn't apparent in the editor. <br /><br /><h3>In-Game Pause during User-Made Level</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jgrk1eEAbdg/WQgHriNIURI/AAAAAAAAB3w/L32CPhUvopEGU2ticMNd_cGYEz3irciaACEw/s1600/20170501_113308_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jgrk1eEAbdg/WQgHriNIURI/AAAAAAAAB3w/L32CPhUvopEGU2ticMNd_cGYEz3irciaACEw/s400/20170501_113308_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Gives good options for 'starring' during gameplay, and adding comments. Allowing several easy places to have players rate/star someone's level helps encourage starring.<br /><br /><h3>Playfulness and Character</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d8JJUsNIIV8/WQeafZIisvI/AAAAAAAAB1s/yT7vITQDci0jY6CM49vn4ohuigqHXBgJgCPcB/s1600/20170501_140428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d8JJUsNIIV8/WQeafZIisvI/AAAAAAAAB1s/yT7vITQDci0jY6CM49vn4ohuigqHXBgJgCPcB/s400/20170501_140428.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There are a lot of the touches in Mario Maker that make it fun. It's pretty cool that you can play a tiny level right in the title screen of the game. On the title screen, touching any of the title letters creates a different effect such as dropping in powerups, or enemies, or new screen effects. Touching anywhere on the sides drops in random enemies to fight. Different interactions in the editor itself have lots of fun effects, such as tapping on doors in the editor will make it sound like someone is knocking on the other side of the door. <br /><br /><h3>Uploading and Course Clearing</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRF6lgk6cOc/WQgHwDWAa5I/AAAAAAAAB3w/qthTQ6_vLP06_MzlSwDnHdX1IBcPTDGlgCEw/s1600/20170501_141539_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRF6lgk6cOc/WQgHwDWAa5I/AAAAAAAAB3w/qthTQ6_vLP06_MzlSwDnHdX1IBcPTDGlgCEw/s400/20170501_141539_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It makes sense to force the player to beat the course before uploading. This proves that the level is completeable and greatly reduces the number of frustrating levels uploaded.<br /><br />During a 'clear check' playthrough, the edit button is not there. The only way to quit is to click the +button and then 'Edit Course'.<br /><br />Clicking the - button in the editor plays the level, but from the level start.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fs6oo8WXNlg/WQlelYfrtVI/AAAAAAAAB5U/WbQLoJk8-CstOCycAOSykAyivBCzXyyqgCLcB/s1600/20170502_114821.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Fs6oo8WXNlg/WQlelYfrtVI/AAAAAAAAB5U/WbQLoJk8-CstOCycAOSykAyivBCzXyyqgCLcB/s320/20170502_114821.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><h3>Combining Objects</h3>This is mostly good, in terms of it being intuitive to drop one object on another and then have them do something new. But it's also a little confusing at times as to when this behavior works.<br /><h3>Administration</h3>MM shows a message to the player that they will delete courses the player has uploaded if the courses:<br /><ul><li>find a bug in the code,&nbsp;</li><li>exploit a bug to get a new world record,&nbsp;</li><li>obtrusively bother other creators for 'stars'.&nbsp;</li></ul>Basically they are trying to police the community and help it be a great place for people to make levels. Seems like a good move if you have the manpower.<br /><br /><h3>Community Policing</h3>Nintendo does not a filter for 'explicit' content created in their levels, but does have a 'report level' button if you click on a level's info. From there Nintendo apparently reviews the level for deletion or penalizing the Maker. <br /><br /><h3>User-Level Difficulty Filtering</h3>Levels uploaded by players are automatically sorted into All, Easy, Normal, Expert, and Super Expert difficulty options. Not sure how this is done, but I assume it's based on player deaths/clears/early exits.<br /><br /><h3>Gameplay Rules</h3>Everyone knows how to play a Mario game and lots of players know a lot of the gameplay objects in the game and how they act. All these objects have been in previous games. This is good as no player has to learn your game *and* learn the editor.&nbsp; <br /><br /><h3>Different Editor UI Style</h3>Having a new style for the buttons and menus for the Mario Maker system itself was a smart choice. The style is not pixel art like original Mario nor smooth 3D like the Wii U Mario. It's a simple, clean, 2D look that allows for high contrast between the editor portions of the game and the game itself. It's very clear what parts are what.<br /><br /><br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Bad</h2><h3>The Menus </h3>The menu system feels sprawling, confusing, and it's easy to get lost. Things should be simple are hard to find. Things that you'd think would be in one place are somewhere completely different. The general feeling of using the menu system is having to forget what you know, and instead learn something completely different.<br />Maybe "what I know" is Microsoft Windows? Somehow MM always feels like the menus are in a weird place.<br /><br />Let's look at something simple like the how the game starts.<br />Title Screen-&gt; <b>"Make"</b> or <b>"Play"</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uCCPY0T1vTg/WQlei-bVZwI/AAAAAAAAB5M/tSyx8nZwRaYB1i5oVttyPUBO3_ukKPnvgCLcB/s1600/20170503_002925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uCCPY0T1vTg/WQlei-bVZwI/AAAAAAAAB5M/tSyx8nZwRaYB1i5oVttyPUBO3_ukKPnvgCLcB/s400/20170503_002925.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>"Make"</b> goes to the "Course Maker" (the level editor) <br /><b>"Play"</b> opens two sub-buttons. "10 Mario Challenge" and "Course World".<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hlJbFQ63It4/WQlej1rN8wI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/wRD5FQbtTfwlCH6OfSkv29Kr8h4F50EAQCLcB/s1600/20170503_002941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hlJbFQ63It4/WQlej1rN8wI/AAAAAAAAB5Q/wRD5FQbtTfwlCH6OfSkv29Kr8h4F50EAQCLcB/s400/20170503_002941.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Clicking "10 Mario Challenge" goes to set of 8 levels in which the player must beat with only 10 lives.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v91C-AL8Jgw/WQgHqlbp8tI/AAAAAAAAB38/TXWWffQvn_gLcRENSEItganpoEOQ6YTEwCEw/s1600/20170501_112421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v91C-AL8Jgw/WQgHqlbp8tI/AAAAAAAAB38/TXWWffQvn_gLcRENSEItganpoEOQ6YTEwCEw/s400/20170501_112421.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Clicking "Course World" opens a new menu that shows a different, <b>100 </b>Mario Challenge contained inside it, in addition to "Courses" and "Makers" sections.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cl0wJfIKmU0/WQgHqUgftRI/AAAAAAAAB3w/9t2cYkGDlGwYIAWnARG3x06U0i8C6CkSACEw/s1600/20170501_112309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cl0wJfIKmU0/WQgHqUgftRI/AAAAAAAAB3w/9t2cYkGDlGwYIAWnARG3x06U0i8C6CkSACEw/s400/20170501_112309.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There are some good intentions here, but things still feel off. It's good to have a collection of algorithmic/curated levels to give players a good experience of user-made levels. Assuming those levels in the 100 Mario Challenge are some of the highest starred levels and best designed.<br /><br />Maybe it's when you click "Play" that it takes you to a sub-menu about "10 Mario Challenge", but then you click Course World and see a "100 Mario Challenge".<br />Why is the 10 Mario and the 100 Mario Challenges not both inside the Course World area? Having a "Quick Play" option seems more intuitive even in the naming scheme.<br /><br /><h3>Player Account and Uploaded Levels </h3>In order to find your player account and see what levels you've uploaded you have to visit Course World. You can't find the player settings button in the Make section of the game where you upload levels, or in the Coursebot section where you save/upload them either. It seems weird to 'hide' the list of your uploaded levels.<br /><br />Not bad or good, but if you click Upload again, and clear the level&nbsp; you'll upload the same level twice and it can have the same name, but will get a new course ID.<br /><br /><br /><h4>Hidden IDs</h4>While it's great to have an ID code to share your levels, it's actually a pain to find it. You can find the code when you clear your level for upload.<br />The only other places to find it is in your Miiverse post history, or you can go Title-&gt;Play-&gt;Course World-&gt;Mii Face (top left) then search your list of uploads-&gt;Find the level-&gt;Click Level-&gt;then click the ID button to show the actual ID. <br /><br /><h3>Menu Issues - Save/Load</h3>The save and load options are under a robot head icon. It's confusing and strange to find them there, and not under the 3-line menu button.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BT2nLpjl4Xo/WQgHu2fnjRI/AAAAAAAAB3w/CnlXiE_9Iu0DVMUonVXij0Pv6rVW_OsLgCEw/s1600/20170501_140934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BT2nLpjl4Xo/WQgHu2fnjRI/AAAAAAAAB3w/CnlXiE_9Iu0DVMUonVXij0Pv6rVW_OsLgCEw/s400/20170501_140934.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Clicking&nbsp; 'New Save' then sends you to a entirely new menu area that is pretty intimidating though cool looking. The listing of "world 1" and "world 2", etc is confusing as well. Do only saves for objects from world 1 go into world 1? Turns out you can put any level in any slot, but it simply is strange.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hxrQQIxVfU8/WQgHvBJz0RI/AAAAAAAAB3w/rU3ZRA7R7Kw5MSkGl4ihk8WqBcozJraegCEw/s1600/20170501_141228_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hxrQQIxVfU8/WQgHvBJz0RI/AAAAAAAAB3w/rU3ZRA7R7Kw5MSkGl4ihk8WqBcozJraegCEw/s400/20170501_141228_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />From there it goes to "Name this course!" which seems fine.&nbsp; It lets you enter the course name.<br />After it saves, it returns you automatically back to the editor.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKPdPl2Aw4s/WQgHvvbCr0I/AAAAAAAAB3w/lXvYQpFxjl4c7bXGLsVPwdmHt7FDjeHOgCEw/s1600/20170501_141423_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKPdPl2Aw4s/WQgHvvbCr0I/AAAAAAAAB3w/lXvYQpFxjl4c7bXGLsVPwdmHt7FDjeHOgCEw/s400/20170501_141423_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />From then on, you have the "New Save", "Save", and "Load" options. This is layout and naming seems reasonable.<br /><br />When saving a new level, why doesn't the Coursebot-save menu open to the bottom where there's an open slot? Instead it opens at the top making you scroll through all your previous levels. It's annoying and seems like a small but helpful fix.<br /><br /><h4>Upload Process</h4>In order to upload your game, you have to do a "New Save". But the publish button isn't there, and greyed out, it's simply missing altogether. There's no helper indication on those menus as to how to open it up.<br /><br />Once you New Save your level, Upload is now an option. Clicking Upload asks the player if they are ready to finish their level. <br /><br />It's minor but I feel like the level could use a "Upload Check" message in the upper right indicating what's at stake.<br /><br />The process, which is fine but sparse, flows like this:<br /><ol><li>New Save level.</li><li>Upload Level. </li><li>Complete the level successfully.</li><ol><li>Fail and the level is restarted.</li><li>Press Pause to exit the process. </li></ol><li>The TV directs you to the game pad. You must name the level then on the gamepad.</li><li>The level is uploaded to the internet.</li></ol><h3>More Menu Issues - Coursebot </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c8wdJPB-q4c/WQgWJMK9ZiI/AAAAAAAAB4s/skiImw1oCU0bUaF5nZktDjwemhSCGTZqQCEw/s1600/courseBotButtons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c8wdJPB-q4c/WQgWJMK9ZiI/AAAAAAAAB4s/skiImw1oCU0bUaF5nZktDjwemhSCGTZqQCEw/s640/courseBotButtons.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Things get really strange with the 'coursebot'. As you saw the save/load coursebot is picked through the robot head on the right. But if you click the yellow 'main menu' button then two robot heads show up! And they are both head to the coursebot, but they are different! (See above)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LjC-qi5mTJ0/WQgWPRr21qI/AAAAAAAAB48/6ckabdFSx8Uoyg_CW3PaG8p949DKOXfGQCEw/s1600/20170502_010504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LjC-qi5mTJ0/WQgWPRr21qI/AAAAAAAAB48/6ckabdFSx8Uoyg_CW3PaG8p949DKOXfGQCEw/s400/20170502_010504.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Clicking the bottom one can take you to the "you can't save/load here but you can play levels in-order". So the "world" concept you see in save/load comes to fruition, sort of. The circle-arrow buttons on the left (play buttons) let you play your levels in order.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pHV3284Z2ak/WQgWOI69L_I/AAAAAAAAB48/BJl1NtdKwh836tOaCPTHQdOEqClCWlkKQCEw/s1600/20170502_010853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pHV3284Z2ak/WQgWOI69L_I/AAAAAAAAB48/BJl1NtdKwh836tOaCPTHQdOEqClCWlkKQCEw/s400/20170502_010853.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />But strangely if you toggle 'my courses' to 'sample courses', the 'play-world' buttons are gone! You can play them in-order, but not all together, 4-levels in a row.<br /><br />Why are the options to play levels in a row in the regular coursebot you find with save/load? Why are there two coursebots that are the same but different? Why not simply toggle options in there? <br /><br /><h3>No Eyedropper Tool</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vDvc2i_q9xM/WQlmiMEIjSI/AAAAAAAAB5s/gPDoxoobXIIyE2_5B7jwhbU2HXfKI1ocwCLcB/s1600/eyeDropper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vDvc2i_q9xM/WQlmiMEIjSI/AAAAAAAAB5s/gPDoxoobXIIyE2_5B7jwhbU2HXfKI1ocwCLcB/s320/eyeDropper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>There is a simple "copy" option that lets you copy a single object as long as you are holding down certain buttons. But there is no simple "switch to placing this object that is currently under my cursor" option. It's common to be in a level, have a certain object list showing, but want to start drawing with a new object that is in the level, but not in your object list. There should be a simple way to select that object as seen in the level to start drawing with it--beyond the copy method. This is typically a represented as an 'eye dropper' in drawing programs. <br /><br /><h3>Hidden Objects</h3>It's cool that there's a lot of options built-in to some simple controls. But sometimes the "shake" option to find special objects makes you feel like you don't know where everything is.<br />Feeling like you don't know where all the objects are or where they are hidden is annoying when trying to make a level. But it also feels cool when you finally find them. This could be good in terms of building community, to have "hidden" objects which encourages players to talk to each other and figure out how to find them. It is annoying to not be able to see all objects or find them but might be helping the game in terms of community.<br /><br /><h3>Shaking Controls</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8hYFnv5Trs/WQgWNhKczMI/AAAAAAAAB4w/47LDXnDbbVgiq_kOE5Wz8Hd1vCpGFa5QgCLcB/s1600/20170502_010151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8hYFnv5Trs/WQgWNhKczMI/AAAAAAAAB4w/47LDXnDbbVgiq_kOE5Wz8Hd1vCpGFa5QgCLcB/s320/20170502_010151.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Having to shake objects to find alternate versions is okay the first time as a fun thing,&nbsp; but as functional method it's annoying. I'd much rather have a simple button that toggles through various options of that object. The shaking option could still be there, but much like how they have a method of holding two buttons use the "Eraser" tool but also have on-screen icon for the eraser, there should be a simpler way to swap object abilities.<br /><br /><h3>No Tags or Filters</h3>Searching for a new level to play is only allowed through 16-digit code system. Players can leave 'comments' on levels, but they can't tag them. There's no tag-search system in Mario Maker, so if a player wanted to find a "funny" level, versus a "auto-scrolling" level, versus an "underwater" level, they don't have that option. There should be filters to let you toggle tags for levels that you either want or don't want. If you're tired of levels filled with hidden blocks, you could filter these levels out. Consider filters for "tricky", "trolling", "art" (or "picture"), or "puzzle", "classic" etc. They'd be great to find different styles of levels.<br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: center;">Lessons to Follow</h2>There's a lot in Mario Maker that encourages players to have fun making levels and to share them. The bright and playful UI, the hidden abilities and controls, and the ease of use can be great.These are the things we are working to bring to the level editor in <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/339090"><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></a>, in addition to a few extra tool options, and hopefully more sensible menu layout. All of this will be tied to Steam Workshop for the Steam Early Access version coming out soon. Stay tuned!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNSqxzW_zWg/WQlnE_Su0RI/AAAAAAAAB50/eRTVrsi4dFsV0L56DHqP2rh-gb3SNrh_gCLcB/s1600/floatingBow2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNSqxzW_zWg/WQlnE_Su0RI/AAAAAAAAB50/eRTVrsi4dFsV0L56DHqP2rh-gb3SNrh_gCLcB/s1600/floatingBow2.gif" /></a></div><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-65899648550917495342017-03-27T08:25:00.000-07:002017-03-27T08:25:26.311-07:00SXSW, GDC, and Framerates<br /><i>Pig Eat Ball</i> still has single-player work that continues to be done by myself and Matthew. We are currently working on the World 4 boss (the "Kitchen Chaos" area).<br />But several other areas of work have been happening recently as well!<br /><br />I took several trips to promote the game and make connections with publishers.<br /><br /><h3>GDC </h3>The first trip was to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. We were featured at the "Intel Juice Bar". It was nice to have free space around the expo hall, and also pretty laid back. We got this deal through applying to a special promotion and showing Intel the game. They liked it!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WXfQDpCjFcs/WNkpls2NIqI/AAAAAAAAByo/80zzimdL094G60GOXzChlity9rxJ_OEngCLcB/s1600/20170227_164306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WXfQDpCjFcs/WNkpls2NIqI/AAAAAAAAByo/80zzimdL094G60GOXzChlity9rxJ_OEngCLcB/s400/20170227_164306.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>The theme was to "juice" your game with their amazing processors. That probably made more sense for a high-end 3D game, but hey, they picked <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> for this, so I'm not saying 'no'! It was 2 hour slots for a few days of the show.<br /><br />I had a publisher meeting at the show as well. It went okay, but I'm not sure if they can really promote our game much more than we can. Talks continue. <br /><br />While walking the expo floor, I found another game about barf! It's very different than <i>Pig Eat Ball</i>, but hey "<i>Eggggg</i>" is pretty cool! Plus they called it 'puke' instead of 'barf' for the alliteration. It's out now on mobile!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YdYGvPsJZQE/WNkqRS9-u9I/AAAAAAAAByw/TLGBfl-3nhQvh_kHun2zejICHp_kP3uqQCLcB/s1600/20170301_141332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YdYGvPsJZQE/WNkqRS9-u9I/AAAAAAAAByw/TLGBfl-3nhQvh_kHun2zejICHp_kP3uqQCLcB/s320/20170301_141332.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />And another game on the floor had this beautiful diorama.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f7tmarKvKQs/WNkq8kSvrUI/AAAAAAAABy4/LwnVjWFV4-Y8Z9x2o2xfHNyprk30jHPugCLcB/s1600/20170301_143343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f7tmarKvKQs/WNkq8kSvrUI/AAAAAAAABy4/LwnVjWFV4-Y8Z9x2o2xfHNyprk30jHPugCLcB/s320/20170301_143343.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><h3>SXSW </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x4GL6jSBK3o/WNkrpx79AFI/AAAAAAAABzE/Xf7DopQbB4AKksrgnjVA5kaJgj876haBACLcB/s1600/Gaming%2BPitch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x4GL6jSBK3o/WNkrpx79AFI/AAAAAAAABzE/Xf7DopQbB4AKksrgnjVA5kaJgj876haBACLcB/s200/Gaming%2BPitch.png" width="200" /></a></div>Moving from San Francisco now to Austin Texas, I just recently returned from SXSW. I was invited to a "game pitch contest" for <i>Pig Eat Ball</i>. The goal was to present the most compelling pitch for your game. It was an exercise only, and had four 'industry judges'. There were no actual investors. Still it forced me to focus more on promotion of the game and to consider the target market more and to make some promotional art. I learned about promoting and pitching "the reason you made the game" in addition to what the game itself is about.<br /><br />We didn't win the contest though as it sounds like we didn't go on and on about the millions of sales we'll have with our game. It feels hard to just wing some numbers out there, but hey, lots of other pitch people do that, so you probably should too. <br /><br />Before the event I painted this picture of Princess Bow.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCMgJEq_iXU/WNkrdxnLFQI/AAAAAAAABzA/W9J1rKKncEEwytiQLyM6U07ekGAzFgBPgCLcB/s1600/BowPose1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCMgJEq_iXU/WNkrdxnLFQI/AAAAAAAABzA/W9J1rKKncEEwytiQLyM6U07ekGAzFgBPgCLcB/s400/BowPose1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Here is what the space looked like for the actual pitch.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh23j9Bt3l4/WNksFHCWQkI/AAAAAAAABzI/2cLTngi8Vrsq8rGV6cTCllF0oVDydOKEgCLcB/s1600/20170317_151658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wh23j9Bt3l4/WNksFHCWQkI/AAAAAAAABzI/2cLTngi8Vrsq8rGV6cTCllF0oVDydOKEgCLcB/s320/20170317_151658.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />That was the end of our recent trips! Here's more about other development occurring with the game.<br /><h3>PS4 Framerates</h3>At Super Soul, the company in Kentucky that is helping port the game to consoles, they are working hard to get the framerate up to a buttery-smooth level. It started a bit ago, around 1 frame a second! Ouch! Then they got it up to 10fps.. much more recently, things have been around 40 fps!<br />Pretty good, but still progress to be made.<br />Here's Shea working hard.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iqtslyZPAxE/WNksjABEc6I/AAAAAAAABzM/Bk53R08ZZKgk4tAKu0h0FsoTvkunhSS_ACLcB/s1600/20170222_152546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iqtslyZPAxE/WNksjABEc6I/AAAAAAAABzM/Bk53R08ZZKgk4tAKu0h0FsoTvkunhSS_ACLcB/s320/20170222_152546.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />And here's a pic of the game in action. Off to the left is the development kit! But I blurred it out so we don't get in trouble. Trade secrets and all that.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-unCn2HKqDJI/WNktfFFc_8I/AAAAAAAABzY/ilk9Ybmv31sMjrc3MAyYsxrZUG9TPXu0wCLcB/s1600/PEB_PS4_Feb2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-unCn2HKqDJI/WNktfFFc_8I/AAAAAAAABzY/ilk9Ybmv31sMjrc3MAyYsxrZUG9TPXu0wCLcB/s320/PEB_PS4_Feb2017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Now that the trips are finished I can get back to helping Matthew work on World 4. I'm excited to see how this crazy boss will turn out!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-68841436711344679122017-01-31T08:32:00.003-08:002017-02-01T07:15:01.541-08:00Mommy's Best Year in Review: 2016Another year older, and what did we learn? Or better yet--what we did we make?<br /><br /><h3>January&nbsp;</h3><a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><b><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></b></a> work continues. In January the work was focused on new gameplay objects and obstacles for world 5, the "Astro Farm". We worked on a sneaky gopher that can pop up and steal your balls, as well as a 'ghost dimension' that you can warp around in, to escape trouble.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W7_08tkyxcg/WJCxSkK5VpI/AAAAAAAABxU/G9SWSe-Wo_ISqmBVtf_jgl-UC_SDZAmPQCLcB/s1600/PEB_w5AstroFarm1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W7_08tkyxcg/WJCxSkK5VpI/AAAAAAAABxU/G9SWSe-Wo_ISqmBVtf_jgl-UC_SDZAmPQCLcB/s400/PEB_w5AstroFarm1.png" width="400" /></a></div><h3>February&nbsp;</h3>Matthew (programmer) continues work on the world 5 objects such as a balloon to pop and a 'suction modifier'. I work on the "game feel" for the getting-stuck-barfing mechanics. These are super important, so I spend most of the month overhauling them.<br /><br />Also our mobile, horse-racing game <a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/fingerderpy.html"><b><i>Finger Derpy</i></b></a> was nominated *twice* for <a href="http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2016/02/finger-derpy-nominated-for-imga-award.html">IMGA award</a>s, so that's pretty amazing!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2WeBn9GAKc/VsP3ViLVZJI/AAAAAAAABo4/-QdBDKY2ok4CtI_nSYEYvi-Am99yyiCVACPcB/s1600/FignerDerpy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2WeBn9GAKc/VsP3ViLVZJI/AAAAAAAABo4/-QdBDKY2ok4CtI_nSYEYvi-Am99yyiCVACPcB/s200/FignerDerpy1.jpg" width="188" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ts8Z4GEIIrk/VsP3ZCHTu0I/AAAAAAAABo4/YmZGlEsFTCEAQsGuulhyB31tydnv5LEAACPcB/s1600/FingerDerpy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ts8Z4GEIIrk/VsP3ZCHTu0I/AAAAAAAABo4/YmZGlEsFTCEAQsGuulhyB31tydnv5LEAACPcB/s200/FingerDerpy2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><h3>March&nbsp;</h3>In <b><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></b>, I continue to improve the menus and the 'intro' for the levels. This now shows a special, super-low-res animation for what the goal of the level is about.<br /><br />I also worked on the pillbugs in the game so you can knock them in arbitrary directions (not just up/down/left/right) so it'll be more fun to bump into them.<br /><br />John Meister from <a href="http://supersoul.co/">Super Soul</a> travels in my stead to GDC and helps show off <b><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></b> and represents <i><b>Finger Derpy</b></i>!<br /><a href="http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/03/15/7-minutes-of-pig-eat-ball-gameplay-indie-mix-2016">Here's the video</a> of John playing with a group from IGN.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lXh2yO6C7E/WJC0Ks7edCI/AAAAAAAABxg/ARHGk12XgZ0C4wObftYtuzC1ZwEvhPYMwCLcB/s1600/MIX_gdc_IGN_JohnMarch2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lXh2yO6C7E/WJC0Ks7edCI/AAAAAAAABxg/ARHGk12XgZ0C4wObftYtuzC1ZwEvhPYMwCLcB/s400/MIX_gdc_IGN_JohnMarch2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><h3>April&nbsp;</h3>For the first half of the month I continued to work on making the pillbugs fun to play around with. During the second half, I tackled the world 1 boss the "Accordion Centipede"! He took a while to make, but the extra time paid off as he's amazing!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AR8Rpp_1qCg/V6wH7p4r_YI/AAAAAAAABtI/r4ug_skuF508q97oAMLw_8GgLstcfOiBACPcB/s1600/PEB_w1OuterCourts_boss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AR8Rpp_1qCg/V6wH7p4r_YI/AAAAAAAABtI/r4ug_skuF508q97oAMLw_8GgLstcfOiBACPcB/s400/PEB_w1OuterCourts_boss.png" width="400" /></a></div><h3>May</h3>Continued new work on the 'game feel' for getting stuck. Still working on making this great! I added new face animations to the main character to make her more expressive during this gameplay. <br /><br /><h3>June</h3>Added improved stretching and squishing effects to the main character when being stuck or bumping into things.<br />Added a 'Pac-Man' homage level to world 1 that I'm very excited about to have people play!<br />Traveled to E3 to show the game to various publishers and get feedback.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t6WpzLSeHCA/WJC2TV6vieI/AAAAAAAABxs/Job0zTi-LGgXrqdT9cF1oqkFnAsDhQt7QCLcB/s1600/PEB_w1OuterCourts_ghosts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t6WpzLSeHCA/WJC2TV6vieI/AAAAAAAABxs/Job0zTi-LGgXrqdT9cF1oqkFnAsDhQt7QCLcB/s400/PEB_w1OuterCourts_ghosts.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I think 'world 1' is finally finished! <br /><br /><h3>July</h3>Matthew started work on the world 2 boss. He's giant and complicated so this took a while! I worked on boring things like improving the in-game talking menus between characters. I also fixed a lot of bugs regarding switching between worlds and levels.<br /><br /><h3>August</h3>World 2 boss "Octo Tako" is finally finished and he's a doozy! Three stages of attacks with special animation for his various changes. He's a blast to play!<br />I worked on interlude story scenes. I also added more gameplay fixes the basic levels in world 2. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZYJreDUPx4/WJC3bijyQpI/AAAAAAAABx4/clbM18fUQr0E2rP0Q8ANhw6ZODfqgYKZACLcB/s1600/PEB_greenlight1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wZYJreDUPx4/WJC3bijyQpI/AAAAAAAABx4/clbM18fUQr0E2rP0Q8ANhw6ZODfqgYKZACLcB/s400/PEB_greenlight1.png" width="400" /></a></div><h3>September</h3>Work on world 2 continues. There's a new 'floor tile flipping' puzzle element to some levels we've introduced. Also the pillbugs can sit on bleachers and chairs and the player can of course knock them off! I added some mini-games to world 2 and special NPCs.<br /><br /><h3>October</h3>I added new 'inter-level' transitions to the game to improve the player's understanding of where in the game they physically were and where they are going.<br />Finished up world 2!<br />Also showed the game at the first ever "<a href="http://lexplaycon.com/">LexPlay</a>" gaming convention down in Lexington Kentucky. It was a lot of fun!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4duxN8FznNg/WJC4vC5-OSI/AAAAAAAAByE/mTqQImRVZdkkx67tcenFVfhpAtGIt05pwCLcB/s1600/20161029_110929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4duxN8FznNg/WJC4vC5-OSI/AAAAAAAAByE/mTqQImRVZdkkx67tcenFVfhpAtGIt05pwCLcB/s400/20161029_110929.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><h3>November</h3>Work starts on world 3. There's a brand new boss to be created for this world, so it takes several weeks to make him. <br />Also worked hard on the <i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i> announcement trailer! That was tough, but it came out great. Check it out!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oQ4PoNUb0mE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oQ4PoNUb0mE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><h3>December</h3>We released a brand new, shoot-em up game! Yeah, it's a bit crazy to make another game while you're in the middle of a bigger game, but it's also very cathartic. <br /><a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/emojiscream.html"><i><b>Emoji Scream </b></i></a>is a shooter, but it's only controlled by screaming. Or talking, or laughing, or clapping, or any sound you make! You can find it now on mobile <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/emoji-scream/id1187734414">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mommysbestgames.emojiscream">Android </a>and <a href="https://mommysbestgames.itch.io/emoji-scream">PC</a>.<br />Also please vote for it here on Steam Greenlight: <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=817468967">http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=817468967 </a><br />Thanks!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjB1ZmwOeHc/WF2DkF489sI/AAAAAAAABw0/dUluPyAZXZA8clkoHNZQrBQ6y4dNuG4oACPcB/s1600/emojiscream_phone.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjB1ZmwOeHc/WF2DkF489sI/AAAAAAAABw0/dUluPyAZXZA8clkoHNZQrBQ6y4dNuG4oACPcB/s400/emojiscream_phone.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>2017 Here We Come</h3>My plan is to actually release <i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i> in 2017. Things are looking good and we are currently working to finish up world 4. But there are 2 more worlds to polish! These two other worlds have the main gameplay and levels finished, but still need work. <br />So stay tuned, keep playing our games, and thanks for the support!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFqLUKoQ7HA/V6v4CWzZFEI/AAAAAAAABss/kIzzoJuWdVw_lLv-Y26JGRtNjny4dnbwwCPcB/s1600/PigEatBallBow_medium_circle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFqLUKoQ7HA/V6v4CWzZFEI/AAAAAAAABss/kIzzoJuWdVw_lLv-Y26JGRtNjny4dnbwwCPcB/s320/PigEatBallBow_medium_circle.png" width="320" /></a></div>Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-56504709406499020452016-12-23T12:14:00.004-08:002017-01-31T08:33:27.684-08:00Emoji Scream, first ever "scream-em up"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_ABj2YVwGE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_ABj2YVwGE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>Our newest game is called <b><i>"Emoji Scream"</i></b> and it's a side-scrolling shooting game in which you control a screaming emoji. The twist is, when you scream in real life, you make the in-game emoji do the screaming. The looks like "sound waves" which fire to the right, destroying in-coming emoji-fied enemies. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EbBqxFQ9Ew/WF2DkuG-2fI/AAAAAAAABwg/znq1VZXqZaovNZj850EhMNDg3TAqWiO6gCLcB/s1600/emojiscream_stage1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2EbBqxFQ9Ew/WF2DkuG-2fI/AAAAAAAABwg/znq1VZXqZaovNZj850EhMNDg3TAqWiO6gCLcB/s320/emojiscream_stage1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3WX_5tT9KTI/WF2DkdQa26I/AAAAAAAABwc/CAYMZlvFdTYOtmPU6qRe_vH4jfkWswy5gCLcB/s1600/emojiscream_stage2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3WX_5tT9KTI/WF2DkdQa26I/AAAAAAAABwc/CAYMZlvFdTYOtmPU6qRe_vH4jfkWswy5gCLcB/s320/emojiscream_stage2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />While there are some programs with voice activation, this is the first game I know of which is *exclusively* and entirely controlled through sound. Even the main menu system can be controlled by sound, if you hold a loud note, it activates the core buttons to play the game. And there is no other way in which to control the gameplay, other than through sound.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e415ncXk_Xo/WF2Dm8zwDjI/AAAAAAAABwo/oplRJjlUVxcCejavLjQo40TZEy7UNOszACLcB/s1600/emojiscream_stage4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e415ncXk_Xo/WF2Dm8zwDjI/AAAAAAAABwo/oplRJjlUVxcCejavLjQo40TZEy7UNOszACLcB/s320/emojiscream_stage4.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><h2>Controls </h2>The game itself controls like this. Your smiley emoji player moves up and down the screen automatically as enemies move towards you. If you scream, laugh, talk, sing, clap, or otherwise make some loud sounds, it causes the emoji to scream in the game. But it also makes your emoji stop moving up and down. In this manner you can shoot, but also control your player's movements.You'll need to use this "hold" move to get past environmental objects that can't be destroyed, but will kill you if you crash into them.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-2Qllo7MMQ/WF2Dm3DfEAI/AAAAAAAABws/AC1FfNGY0IkZ6btYqX56vTZ3ISc2fdrcQCLcB/s1600/emojiscream_stage5b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-2Qllo7MMQ/WF2Dm3DfEAI/AAAAAAAABws/AC1FfNGY0IkZ6btYqX56vTZ3ISc2fdrcQCLcB/s320/emojiscream_stage5b.png" width="320" /></a></div><h2>Scoring </h2>The scoring system actually rewards "thoughtful screaming". As long as you are not making sound above the volume threshold, your player builds up to 3 times, a score multiplier of sorts. On the left side of the player, three colored outlines will appear. If you then scream to shoot, the next bullet will have the 1+, 2+, 3+ score addition. If you hit an enemy with this special shot, you'll then get 1, 2, or 3 extra coins that bounce out of the enemy. Killing enemies, but also grabbing coins is how you increase your score. Holding back and strategically shooting is the key to a high score in <i>Emoji Scream</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjB1ZmwOeHc/WF2DkF489sI/AAAAAAAABwY/IiuhDDQZYN48iiP4F7fNGD1jnrIh6U5nACLcB/s1600/emojiscream_phone.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wjB1ZmwOeHc/WF2DkF489sI/AAAAAAAABwY/IiuhDDQZYN48iiP4F7fNGD1jnrIh6U5nACLcB/s320/emojiscream_phone.png" width="320" /></a></div><h2>Boss Fights </h2>Each level culminates in a giant boss fight called a "scream duel". Here, the player can no longer move, but based on when they decide to scream, they will have a bigger or smaller mega-shot to use against the huge boss. And some bosses require you to stop/start screaming again, depending on their defenses.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mhCOQv4gDUM/WF2DlAyy3nI/AAAAAAAABwk/AYo9E_6Ioh8FmSEaIIefp4j5dyV4qjXAACLcB/s1600/emojiscream_stage3b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mhCOQv4gDUM/WF2DlAyy3nI/AAAAAAAABwk/AYo9E_6Ioh8FmSEaIIefp4j5dyV4qjXAACLcB/s320/emojiscream_stage3b.png" width="320" /></a></div><h2>Game Structure<i> </i></h2><i>Emoji Scream</i> has three unlockable difficulty settings, 5 distinct levels, detailed, in-game statistics about your playthrough, and an animated ending. After each level it records your progress and let' you pick up from that level to continue.<br /><h2>Download to Play</h2><b>Pick it up today for free on mobile!</b><br />Google Play: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mommysbestgames.emojiscream">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mommysbestgames.emojiscream</a><br />iTunes Apple store: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/emoji-scream/id1187734414?ls=1&amp;mt=8">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/emoji-scream/id1187734414?ls=1&amp;mt=8</a><br /><br />Or for a small price on PC or Mac: <a href="https://mommysbestgames.itch.io/emoji-scream">https://mommysbestgames.itch.io/emoji-scream</a><br /><br />Happy Screaming! <br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-46051384826254447802016-11-02T04:44:00.000-07:002016-11-02T04:44:18.824-07:00Pig Eat Ball announcement trailer!Oh wow, I started working on <a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><b><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></b></a> back in January 2013... it's 3.5 years later and I *finally* feel ready to "reveal" it. Sure I've been talking about it here and there.. I can't imagine keeping a secret that long, something that I've been working on full-time..but now finally I think the game looks cool enough to really start talking about.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oQ4PoNUb0mE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oQ4PoNUb0mE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>With the end in site, I feel good saying we'll be able to release the game for Steam in 2017. <br />Enjoy the trailer! More info to come soon.<br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-14968945716097504232016-10-21T09:06:00.003-07:002016-10-21T09:36:29.516-07:00Creating Your Own Genre<a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i></a> is a tough game to describe succinctly. I've reworked the tagline about "getting fat and barfing" many times, but I've also been working on just what category the game falls into.<br /><br />Recently I've changed the genre-blend description of <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> to "<b>Arcade-Adventure</b>" which I've not seen used before.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CXmZSMsTsg4/WAo3re86OCI/AAAAAAAABvQ/dR7cRzu6WhwwrNOWZAuq0RfzCs29FoCJACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-43-04-92.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CXmZSMsTsg4/WAo3re86OCI/AAAAAAAABvQ/dR7cRzu6WhwwrNOWZAuq0RfzCs29FoCJACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-43-04-92.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a particularly maze-heavy level with butane torches turning on/off in a maze of screens.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We've been working on the genre description since the beginning. The problem is when you're dealing with a new, strange blend of games, what can you say to link it to the fun things people have already played?<br />The best fit games we've come up with so far includes:<br /><ul><li><i>Super Monkey Ball</i></li><li><i>Battle Block Theater</i></li><li><i>Assault Android Cactus</i></li></ul><b>Originally, </b>we first started with "Puzzlish Adventure", a new game description.<br />We worked hard on the word "Puzzlish" to convey to people that the game is "light puzzle solving with action" but I don't feel like, based on reactions I've heard, that this was effective.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gUVlf7kfNKw/WApB2nW4eII/AAAAAAAABvg/vkA0ecVCJXQbjAB1gm_5tZeQP8mvmYDpACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-07-28%2B16-12-07-90.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gUVlf7kfNKw/WApB2nW4eII/AAAAAAAABvg/vkA0ecVCJXQbjAB1gm_5tZeQP8mvmYDpACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-07-28%2B16-12-07-90.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intricate, busy, chaotic levels which are a blast to conquer, are the hallmark of Pig Eat Ball levels.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Then </b>we switched to "Action Adventure", which is a very common genre name. <br />But Action Adventure conjures up too much fantasy hack and slash and <i>Zelda</i>-style games and we don't want people thinking that. <i>Metroid</i> is an Action-Adventure, but it has the platforming sub-genre to help distinguish it. <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> is a top-down action game, that has hundreds of quick-to-play levels, but is also tied together with giant overworld areas to explore, NPCs to interact with, and mini-quests to embark upon.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MfGDo4aM1oY/WAo2qpfg8YI/AAAAAAAABvE/ylhRLYO0R6EU6sZLFE3ZDPbTUSIefrxmgCLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-34-24-51.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MfGDo4aM1oY/WAo2qpfg8YI/AAAAAAAABvE/ylhRLYO0R6EU6sZLFE3ZDPbTUSIefrxmgCLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-34-24-51.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another great arcade-style level, in which you're trapped, frantically dodging spike balls as they fall while eating yummies.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />With our "closest games list" in mind, we switched to listing the distinguishing points of the game:<br /><ul><li>Hundreds short arcade-like action levels</li><li>Large overworlds to explore</li><li>Over-arching story with hand-created levels (no grinding, not procedural)</li><li>Top-down action (no platforming)</li><li>NPCs to interact with, mini-quests to embark upon (not just a list of levels)</li></ul>Looking at this list, we tried to find the two closest, large categories that would fit.<br /><br /><b>We came up with </b>"<b>Arcade-Adventure</b>". This name is working pretty well on all accounts. It's meant to make you think of an arcade experience, but with the longer play time and exploration of an Adventure game.<br /><br />Combined with the pixel art and the short level play-times I think the Arcade prefix fits the best.&nbsp; <br />The game also has some "arcade homage" levels that we'll be revealing down the road that will help bridge the game between the 8-10 hour gameplay time and the arcade feel.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-50a9kPNGitQ/WAo2vZ4W9RI/AAAAAAAABvM/cHC_eOm53iAYTjonqhX5cm_toOhmgCKfACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-34-54-48.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-50a9kPNGitQ/WAo2vZ4W9RI/AAAAAAAABvM/cHC_eOm53iAYTjonqhX5cm_toOhmgCKfACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-10-21%2B11-34-54-48.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bosses are large, and it's lots of fun to figure out how to defeat them!</td></tr></tbody></table>What do you think? Would any recent games you can think of fit a genre called "Arcade-Adventure"?<br />Sound off in the comments, thanks!<br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-8202982824119642622016-09-20T08:06:00.001-07:002016-09-20T08:06:23.688-07:00PEB September Update: Finishing World 2About 80% of the Action levels in Pig Eat Ball are finished. Worlds 1-4 have been worked on for months and have their first-pass Action levels finished. The Overworlds (the hub areas where you explore and play, and then pick Action levels to try to beat) are in place as well.<br /><br />But it takes a lot of time to perfect the Overworlds. Honing the entire experience, playing through an entire world and making sure the difficulty balance is good, all the bugs are worked out, and figuring out all the Oveworld puzzles and secrets to add takes many weeks.<br />Plus each boss is getting reworked!<br /><br />That's where we are currently for World 2. World 1 is great, it is "done". World 2 is almost there too!<br />We've added an entirely new mid-boss fight, and enhanced the main boss greatly. And we've added several new levels and new mechanics to the Action levels.<br /><br />Here's some "bird's eye view" screen shots of the Oveworld levels for World 2.<br />Each World consists of four Overworld levels. These allow you to explore and find secrets. And to pick Action levels. By beating Action levels, you unlock new areas to proceed to, eventually beating the game and finishing the story. <br />&nbsp;<i><b>Keep in mind, these screenshots are from the LEVEL EDITOR! That's why the background is grey and some layers are greyed out.&nbsp; Make sure to CLICK them to see more detail!</b></i><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aqxZ3c0O97w/V-FNp0evtJI/AAAAAAAABuI/faCadooAHagbHGpKfCav0ufT9S71X1zbACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-40-55-45.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aqxZ3c0O97w/V-FNp0evtJI/AAAAAAAABuI/faCadooAHagbHGpKfCav0ufT9S71X1zbACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-40-55-45.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Main Hub" section of World 2, the Sushi Gardens. In these 4 areas, you play around and decide what Action levels to play.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RgGYHvk-vSI/V-FN5KwVpOI/AAAAAAAABuM/pXPZrba9pOAdH6EkwSsBNe79AvEZ8IVNACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-09-15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RgGYHvk-vSI/V-FN5KwVpOI/AAAAAAAABuM/pXPZrba9pOAdH6EkwSsBNe79AvEZ8IVNACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-09-15.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Alpha Module" section of World 2, the Sushi Gardens</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rgqiB-3qCH4/V-FN9UVxScI/AAAAAAAABuY/OPMU4Yk3Uw8ou8cauu4erLHifKm6IAB7wCLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-21-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rgqiB-3qCH4/V-FN9UVxScI/AAAAAAAABuY/OPMU4Yk3Uw8ou8cauu4erLHifKm6IAB7wCLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-21-18.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Beta Module" section of World 2, the Sushi Gardens</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mDYOdKrNpvk/V-FN9XX4vTI/AAAAAAAABuU/_ZhH78BFUBkMjPhV1cQ09uq1wJPoPqQHwCLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-36-22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mDYOdKrNpvk/V-FN9XX4vTI/AAAAAAAABuU/_ZhH78BFUBkMjPhV1cQ09uq1wJPoPqQHwCLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-41-36-22.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Gamma Module" section of World 2, the Sushi Gardens</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And here is one of my favorite areas of World 2, this is a functioning sushi restaurant! <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jyjoRtiM10/V-FOAX38DlI/AAAAAAAABuc/1R7bzxHDR00dgdTV3kO7dXJomRxBf06iACLcB/s1600/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-46-16-71.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jyjoRtiM10/V-FOAX38DlI/AAAAAAAABuc/1R7bzxHDR00dgdTV3kO7dXJomRxBf06iACLcB/s400/pigEatBallGame%2B2016-09-20%2B10-46-16-71.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sushi Restaurant! <br />Click for more detail! </td></tr></tbody></table>Check out the left side of the screen: The sushi chefs on the bottom chop up the food and the patrons at the top gobble up the sushi! The fun part is you getting inside and barfing on everything!<br /><br />Next up for World 2, I have to finish up the cutscenes for beating the midboss and world 2 boss. Onward and upwards!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-31250462479237611372016-08-11T06:36:00.001-07:002016-08-11T06:36:18.074-07:00No Pig's SkyI'd like to introduce you to our upcoming game.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_aOEtlqQMCk/V6x_FkYEkoI/AAAAAAAABto/wcQ3UX-ahR8XeU3r3V5arzomIVZPpmCCQCLcB/s1600/NoPigsSky2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_aOEtlqQMCk/V6x_FkYEkoI/AAAAAAAABto/wcQ3UX-ahR8XeU3r3V5arzomIVZPpmCCQCLcB/s400/NoPigsSky2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/">Pig Eat Ball </a></i></b>is a science-fiction game set in a finite, carefully-designed galaxy. <br />Every object in the game was placed by our team, intentionally, with purpose. Every pixel, every sound effect, every gameplay mechanic was made with the sole intention of making the best action-adventure game about barfing ever dreamed.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ahEjRHZpg4A/V6v4Olw_dVI/AAAAAAAABsU/Fv6iVkShtqQ4P117t22CstueYjecmtFOACLcB/s1600/PEB_w1Party.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ahEjRHZpg4A/V6v4Olw_dVI/AAAAAAAABsU/Fv6iVkShtqQ4P117t22CstueYjecmtFOACLcB/s400/PEB_w1Party.png" width="400" /></a></div><h3></h3><h3>A Truly Barfy Universe</h3>Whether a distant ball or a pillbug playing tennis on the horizon, you can barf on it.<br />Barf on balls. Barf on walls. Barf on pillbugs. Barf on floors. The galaxy is yours to soil.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AR8Rpp_1qCg/V6wH7p4r_YI/AAAAAAAABtA/rtA78JQxRFY_z3ODDSKHjmnChTuAkMpPACLcB/s1600/PEB_w1OuterCourts_boss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AR8Rpp_1qCg/V6wH7p4r_YI/AAAAAAAABtA/rtA78JQxRFY_z3ODDSKHjmnChTuAkMpPACLcB/s400/PEB_w1OuterCourts_boss.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>Unique is Playing Things You've Never Played Before&nbsp;</h3>Eat dozens of balls. Grow fat. Barf your guts out. Slurp it back up. <br />Dodge sizzling frying pans. Race space pigs to make sandwiches.<br />Battle Accordion Centipedes. Break toilets. Get pillbugs drunk.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SjNZ3iMArrk/V6v4fGHZfBI/AAAAAAAABsc/8Wnk66-osvIJFxfwgZntyLaNK_nHduCTQCLcB/s1600/PEB_w3SportsBarena2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SjNZ3iMArrk/V6v4fGHZfBI/AAAAAAAABsc/8Wnk66-osvIJFxfwgZntyLaNK_nHduCTQCLcB/s400/PEB_w3SportsBarena2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>Compete in the Royal Games</h3>With every level, in every space station, you are vulnerable. Vulnerable to losing your future. You must win the Royal Games or your crack-pot, cake-headed father will force you into marriage. But you can choose. You can choose to barf your way to freedom.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7Wd6_PPXUo/V6v4n74DWEI/AAAAAAAABsg/95Cox6mHy0c081wOwDoC-bvMqLbYIdiJwCLcB/s1600/PEB_CakePalace1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7Wd6_PPXUo/V6v4n74DWEI/AAAAAAAABsg/95Cox6mHy0c081wOwDoC-bvMqLbYIdiJwCLcB/s400/PEB_CakePalace1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>The Team</h3><i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i> is being developed by <a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/">Mommy's Best Games</a>, a tiny indie studio in Indiana, USA. We previously made <b><i>Shoot 1UP</i></b> and <i><b>Serious Sam DD XXL</b></i>, but now we're casting our eyes to the toilet.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lIBdlt7Xcfw/V6v4vwfETrI/AAAAAAAABsk/k0RQ6e1ZP3I5ts4ECIQ6dcz6xLvtcKgEgCLcB/s1600/PEB_w4PartyBoat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lIBdlt7Xcfw/V6v4vwfETrI/AAAAAAAABsk/k0RQ6e1ZP3I5ts4ECIQ6dcz6xLvtcKgEgCLcB/s400/PEB_w4PartyBoat.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>Community</h3><br /><i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i> is coming in 2017. Follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/MommysBestGames">Twitter</a>, and on the game's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PigEatBall">Official Facebook page</a>.<br />Get ready to pig out.<br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-46597937893879313922016-07-22T08:11:00.003-07:002016-07-22T08:11:32.261-07:00Is Pokemon GO the Donald Trump of Games?Yes, <i>Pokemon GO</i> is great, we play it with the kids and they love it.<br /><br />Now then...&nbsp;<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gq7IA4CqSak/V5I0jBHF_LI/AAAAAAAABro/n69bfskKe44Azo6nMb5B71dUd9ukBriWQCLcB/s1600/pikachu_bad_mood.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gq7IA4CqSak/V5I0jBHF_LI/AAAAAAAABro/n69bfskKe44Azo6nMb5B71dUd9ukBriWQCLcB/s320/pikachu_bad_mood.png" width="320" /></a></div>It's interesting that any "how to" guides on game development and PR are pretty much defied by this game or could be by any really high profile product.<br /><b>It did so many things wrong at launch and it just didn't matter.&nbsp;</b><br />Is <i>Pokemon GO</i> the Donald Trump of games?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFn4Wt8fBxk/V5I2BNtoyUI/AAAAAAAABr4/OKC_jAHsGYcvHTNcDHSh4yQiKl-MQaygwCLcB/s1600/pokego_DT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LFn4Wt8fBxk/V5I2BNtoyUI/AAAAAAAABr4/OKC_jAHsGYcvHTNcDHSh4yQiKl-MQaygwCLcB/s400/pokego_DT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It had a terrible launch with servers down constantly, activation emails not returned from the Pokemon Trainer site over the course of a week, a fuzzy launch date with relatively little awareness built for such a big brand, no tutorial in the game, the software hangs frequently, and there are bugs everywhere (and not the kind of bugs you're supposed to catch). There are so many problems most small indie devs work hard to eliminate, but here were ignored by players or happening in full sight.<br />I've been working on our current game, <a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></a>, for over 3 years, and for instance, I just spent 2 weeks further polishing the menu transitions and fixing tiny bugs in the music player. These details matter for an indie dev's games and reputation, but what about for the launch with a giant brand? <br /><br />What does this tell us? These things don't matter? Or is it simply the strength of a brand? Or that if you get your core idea correct (catch Pokemon in 'real life'), it's all fine? I don't know. The dev in me is bitter and angry that the "normal rules don't apply here", but it's hard to deny all the positive outcomes of the game even in its current, half-complete state. Regardless, whatever you do, don't use the <i>Pokemon GO</i> launch as a model of how to release your own game, because it simply doesn't apply.Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-5260633846813000392016-05-26T08:50:00.003-07:002016-05-26T08:51:02.111-07:00Pig Eat Ball, May UpdateWe're getting ready for E3!<br /><br />Yes, I'll be taking <b><a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/">Pig Eat Ball</a></b> to E3 to show the game off to publishers and platform holders.<br />Since we'll be demoing the game soon at E3, recent work has been about "first impressions".<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LUYRThxW7IY/V0cZ1qpAk8I/AAAAAAAABq8/XZofk7TdEsgIEleVbWG46MGisR2AAQBvQCLcB/s1600/e3-header-overlay-latest.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LUYRThxW7IY/V0cZ1qpAk8I/AAAAAAAABq8/XZofk7TdEsgIEleVbWG46MGisR2AAQBvQCLcB/s320/e3-header-overlay-latest.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Andrew Curry, our level builder has been working to perfect the first levels of the game, as those first few minutes are the most important with any new players.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bG05Z78D9s/V0cW0fGHB4I/AAAAAAAABqo/XOLnonOQGwwVJqo_gEpcy6L6_yhT3YNvQCLcB/s1600/PEB_clam.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bG05Z78D9s/V0cW0fGHB4I/AAAAAAAABqo/XOLnonOQGwwVJqo_gEpcy6L6_yhT3YNvQCLcB/s400/PEB_clam.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talk to the Clam... to see some action!</td></tr></tbody></table>In the game, the player completes sets of action levels. If they complete a set of action levels, they get a Pearl, and this Pearl is used to unlock new areas and eventually complete the story in Adventure mode (think the Stars in <i>Super Mario Galaxy</i>).<br />A set of levels is controlled by a Royal Clam. So the first Clam in the game, has three levels. Those three levels have been tricky to perfect! And actually it started out as five levels and then four levels.. but I think now that three levels in a row is the perfect amount of playing time to introduce players.<br /><br /><br />Matthew Barnes, one of our programmers, has been working on some new gameplay elements, including a working shower.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a3kaU9OpadE/V0cXE3Uf9WI/AAAAAAAABqs/hoA0viN6BGYqFYao5TOEwvN2_bpn2QRagCLcB/s1600/PEB_shower1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a3kaU9OpadE/V0cXE3Uf9WI/AAAAAAAABqs/hoA0viN6BGYqFYao5TOEwvN2_bpn2QRagCLcB/s320/PEB_shower1.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barfies come in ,but leave sparkling clean!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />What does the shower do? It cleans off the barf of course! :)<br /><br /><br />John Meister, head of <a href="http://www.supersoul.co/">Super Soul Studios</a>, in nearby Lexington Kentucky, has been working on integrating the new controller remapping system. John was previously using the system called "InControl", but has settled on another controller solution called "<a href="https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/21676">Rewired</a>" from the Unity Asset store.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a4LHh9Yxj84/V0cZfyxQiXI/AAAAAAAABq4/RuYWNg2i_NEsi2YH5b-WniLBjErsSEHsgCLcB/s1600/PEB_optimizations.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a4LHh9Yxj84/V0cZfyxQiXI/AAAAAAAABq4/RuYWNg2i_NEsi2YH5b-WniLBjErsSEHsgCLcB/s400/PEB_optimizations.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many collisions to deal with...</td></tr></tbody></table>And I've been working on optimizations. Without giving away too much, let's just say that thousands of chunks of barf can be spewing in the game. And that's <b>interactive</b> barf--not just simple particle effects! Add to that tons of balls and dozens of pillbug enemies with complicated AI which could be running around as well--with that all happening, on some of our laptops, we noticed the game was starting to get slow. So I've spent the last few weeks, trying to eliminate unnecessary collision calls, and figuring out tricks to avoid comparing so many objects together, or other ways to save processor time. The good news is--things are speeding up!<br /><br />Alright, E3 is June 14-16th, wish me luck!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-59676466757273044302016-04-27T08:17:00.000-07:002016-04-27T08:18:18.525-07:00Pig Eat Ball, April Update<a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/"><i><b>Pig Eat Ball</b></i></a>, our upcoming action-puzzle game about getting fat and barfing, is still coming along nicely. <br />Here's what the team has been up to recently.<br /><br />Andrew Curry is the lead level designer and level builder for the game.&nbsp; He's been on the project for several years and has designed several hundred levels in the game and there's still more to go!<br />He's been recently working on the giant overworld levels. Here's just one sub-area of World 1, the "Outer Courts".<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OVjPXjuGYp0/VyDVIO-nWFI/AAAAAAAABqM/HMfxGpEmytEeMXGCXUIxfDne2Jjxdz-iACLcB/s1600/world1level.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OVjPXjuGYp0/VyDVIO-nWFI/AAAAAAAABqM/HMfxGpEmytEeMXGCXUIxfDne2Jjxdz-iACLcB/s400/world1level.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Area 1, World 1. View from the level editor</td></tr></tbody></table>Matthew Barnes has been programming on the game with me for several years as well. Initially he was coding on the level editor, but is now working on gameplay objects. He's been working on a ceiling-type object that you can drive underneath, and the object fades out so you can see the gameplay below.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0EH9mC1BGPA/VyDUDll2NZI/AAAAAAAABp0/oWkE_CmIvGkAzY-dozHoACjnGG7SAJqgQCLcB/s1600/CeilingWork1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0EH9mC1BGPA/VyDUDll2NZI/AAAAAAAABp0/oWkE_CmIvGkAzY-dozHoACjnGG7SAJqgQCLcB/s320/CeilingWork1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of the ceiling tiles from the built-in level editor.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1sRCrKNlIA0/VyDUMZedQ2I/AAAAAAAABp4/oXb8Z6slp2IcefxKpM0nA4DNOE66Spj0wCLcB/s1600/PEB_ceiling1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1sRCrKNlIA0/VyDUMZedQ2I/AAAAAAAABp4/oXb8Z6slp2IcefxKpM0nA4DNOE66Spj0wCLcB/s320/PEB_ceiling1.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Princess Bow, moving underneath the tiles, and you can see the nice fade.</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OVjPXjuGYp0/VyDVIO-nWFI/AAAAAAAABqM/HMfxGpEmytEeMXGCXUIxfDne2Jjxdz-iACLcB/s1600/world1level.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Bentley Usher is an intern on the project for this Spring. He's been tasked to do some gameplay code for the various Disguises that your player character can wear. I've done the art, and Bentley is adding the "Pros" and "Cons" code to the Disguises.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sLvmu91bAJs/VyDUlxuNyuI/AAAAAAAABp8/ebX83s3DnBMoq2YEaOOAjAVYY-5HMzrqACLcB/s1600/DisguiseWork1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sLvmu91bAJs/VyDUlxuNyuI/AAAAAAAABp8/ebX83s3DnBMoq2YEaOOAjAVYY-5HMzrqACLcB/s320/DisguiseWork1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After you get a new Disguise, you can see what abilities it has.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71t0vRH97Z0/VyDUmnOqd0I/AAAAAAAABqA/wq4ny156qAEo0rNzciaYRdAAif9kS2xDgCLcB/s1600/DisguiseWork2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71t0vRH97Z0/VyDUmnOqd0I/AAAAAAAABqA/wq4ny156qAEo0rNzciaYRdAAif9kS2xDgCLcB/s320/DisguiseWork2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Princess Bow in a test level, with several Disguises in the works.</td></tr></tbody></table>And I've been reworking the World 1 boss. I had a boss in place originally and he was fun and all, but not crazy enough. So the previous boss has been moved to a 'mini-boss' status for World 1 :)<br />This is very early, and the art is only roughed in and will improve. But here's a peek:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kNCktgnCerQ/VyDU0svgyaI/AAAAAAAABqU/yLECNIv3hr8qLXv35PJsd6X39KntLsPJgCKgB/s1600/Boss1Work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kNCktgnCerQ/VyDU0svgyaI/AAAAAAAABqU/yLECNIv3hr8qLXv35PJsd6X39KntLsPJgCKgB/s320/Boss1Work.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's pretty scary to play against!</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Pig Eat Ball</b> has been Greenlit for sale on Steam.<br />The current plan is to have <b>Pig Eat Ball</b> go into Steam Early Access in a month or two.<br />Or you can pre-order the game at the link below, and get a build to play now. This will let you see our changes even sooner, and actually play it as we build it!<br /><a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/">www.pigeatball.com</a><br /><br />We plan to release the final version of the game some time in 2016.Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-10394645370400993732016-03-02T07:24:00.002-08:002016-03-02T07:24:30.925-08:00How to Show Your Game at a Non-Gaming ExpoIn addition to the big shows like PAX and GDC, Mommy's Best Games has shown our games at some very small events. Comic Cons, Pinball Expos, Table-Top shows, Coding events, you may have some of these different events in your area that might let you show games there. In fact, this weekend is the Louisville Arcade Expo, a very fun show we've been showing at for several years. <br />With that in mind, here are some tips for showing at an event that *does not* feature recently-made video games as the main attraction!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HN6tD8zoPE4/VtW2zfvboxI/AAAAAAAABpI/-LXE9XDTE1U/s1600/WP_20150418_013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HN6tD8zoPE4/VtW2zfvboxI/AAAAAAAABpI/-LXE9XDTE1U/s400/WP_20150418_013.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My lovely wife showing our iOS game "Finger Derpy" at the KY Science Center</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3>Free Play</h3>The games are free to try out! You're offering free demos!<br />You know that, but for the general public tugging their kids through the busy show, everything else is vendor tables. And vendor tables means *things cost money*. It's weird in their minds to come across a booth that let's you play games for free. Some people don't know this. The easiest thing we've found, in addition to simply saying the games are free play, is putting up a simple&nbsp; 'FREE PLAY" sign on a sheet of paper. Obviously, you can get fancier than that if you want.<br />(If your expo is organized enough to have all the indie games together, clearly marked, you may not need this, so that's cool! )<br /><br /><h3>Non-Gamers</h3>Be nice when showing your game, and understand lots of people there are probably not 'hardcore' and may possibly be put off by your game. Don't take it personally about your game--you are simply getting a very large slice of the general public at non-gaming shows. <br />Don't be surprised if you get some kids playing, but the Mom or Dad does not want to play. If you have chairs, offer them a seat while the kids play and they may be more interested in your game!<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6wHIABZuuE4/VtW3OwrdfKI/AAAAAAAABpM/B-Qsp7hh_ro/s1600/WP_20150919_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6wHIABZuuE4/VtW3OwrdfKI/AAAAAAAABpM/B-Qsp7hh_ro/s400/WP_20150919_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A family getting into our Steam game "Shoot 1UP" at the Louisville Mini-Maker Fair</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3>Xbox 360 guide button</h3>If you use Xbox 360 controllers and have Steam running, and a user accidentally holds the Guide button it will stop your game and bring up Big Picture mode. This is really annoying.<br />Users are having a blast with your game, but may be so enamored that they don't notice they are holding the wrong button to do something. It may seem obvious "Just don't hold that button" but for some reason Valve has not released a simple option to disable BP mode for the Guide button.<br /><br />The easiest fix is to not have Steam running. Have a DRM-free version of your game without running Steam. There are also Steam community threads in which people are trying to figure out workarounds to it.<br /><br /><h3>Locally-Made, Recently-Made</h3>A lot of regular folks are still coming around to the idea that video games are being made in their own backyard! They may be pretty surprised to learn that you are developing games there. Take some time to explain the cool thing to them and if they express interest in game development, mention your local development support group! Here in Louisville, it's <a href="http://louisvillemakesgames.org/">Louisville Makes Games</a>.<br /><br />The other thing we've noticed is a lot of these shows will have <i>Super Smash Bros</i> or <i>Mario Kart</i> or some other tournament running at the event. That's some tough competition to show your game against! The important thing is to communicate that you are personally making the game they are playing now, and it was made recently--not by a huge, well-funded company (such as Nintendo).<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r_GFge07Hu0/VtW33oHdDJI/AAAAAAAABpU/d-XgrpcdswI/s1600/WP_20150306_011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r_GFge07Hu0/VtW33oHdDJI/AAAAAAAABpU/d-XgrpcdswI/s400/WP_20150306_011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MBG booth at the Louisville Arcade Expo 2015, with our upcoming "Pig Eat Ball".</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Expo Experience</h3>Most of the regular expo moves still apply here. For example, if you want people to remember your game's name tomorrow, print cards and hand them out! You can get 500 custom cards for under $20 at GotPrint, or basically for free if you print them on a 8.5"x11" sheet and cut out a few dozen by hand (or on stock paper). Remember to mention your release date and platform if you have one. And of course take extra cords, connectors, monitors, tape, sanitizer, drinks, signs, snacks, and controllers for backup and any other booths that need help!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-61111227606093259992016-02-16T20:38:00.001-08:002016-02-16T20:39:34.408-08:00Finger Derpy Nominated for IMGA Award!<h4></h4><h3>Doubly Nominated </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbTLoeANyRg/VsP3TUeorVI/AAAAAAAABos/IgqLKzfHm78/s1600/imga1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbTLoeANyRg/VsP3TUeorVI/AAAAAAAABos/IgqLKzfHm78/s320/imga1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We have fun news! Our mobile horse-racing game, <a href="http://mommysbestgames.com/fingerderpy.html"><i>Finger Derpy</i></a>, has been nominated, in *two* categories, for an International Mobile Game Award! The 12th IMGA competition recently announced the nominations, and your favorite drunken-horse-racing game is up for "Best Multiplayer Game" and "Guilty Pleasure"!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ts8Z4GEIIrk/VsP3ZCHTu0I/AAAAAAAABo0/nweG-686pCw/s1600/FingerDerpy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ts8Z4GEIIrk/VsP3ZCHTu0I/AAAAAAAABo0/nweG-686pCw/s320/FingerDerpy2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger Derpy nominated for Guilty Pleasure</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2WeBn9GAKc/VsP3ViLVZJI/AAAAAAAABow/xaMu0-6-38o/s1600/FignerDerpy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2WeBn9GAKc/VsP3ViLVZJI/AAAAAAAABow/xaMu0-6-38o/s320/FignerDerpy1.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger Derpy for Best Multiplayer!</td></tr></tbody></table>Here's the trick: The final awards are determined by a <b>crowd vote</b>!<br /><b>That's where YOU come in. Yes, YOU!</b><br /><br />Do you like Mommy's Best Games? And/Or do you like video game development in Indiana/Kentucky? Then please vote for <i>Finger Derpy</i>!<br />Winning awards helps us with future and current projects. It will help Finger Derpy continue to succeed, which feeds our future games.<br /><br /><i>Finger Derpy</i> is a game made in the Louisville area, and it features the city of Louisville!<br />The game is really well received and we love that people enjoy it. To see it nominated out of thousands of games is certainly exciting. But to have it confirmed with the award would seal the deal.<br /><br />I ask you, I implore you, please take 5 minutes of your time to help our very tiny, indie team win this <b>international </b>game award.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;">How to Vote for <i>Finger Derpy&nbsp;</i></h3>Here's where to vote:<br /><a href="http://www.imgawards.com/awarded-games/12th-imga/">http://www.imgawards.com/awarded-games/12th-imga/</a><br /><br />It takes a few steps, but that means each vote is <i><b>even more valuable</b></i>.<br />You do have to register an account and confirm it and all, but then you can vote with one click.<br />When you register, and it asks you what "You Are" just pick "A fan of IMGA!"<br /><br />The odd part is you only get to vote for *one game* in any/all categories! So make it count.<br />Please vote for Finger Derpy in the Best Guilty Pleasure category!<br />This is not a situation of "vote early and often".<br />You get one vote, it's very quick once you register, and it really, <b><i>really </i></b>helps us. <br />Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.<br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-91920315481176463022016-02-11T06:50:00.004-08:002016-02-11T06:50:36.642-08:00"The 3 That's" for Your Game<h4>"The Deluge"</h4>You know that scene in some movie where the wave is so high, it's over the view of the camera, and it's going to crush the heroes? Well the players are the heroes, and that wave is made out of potential entertainment. Games, movies, TV, books. It's practically infinite, and you're trying to make money in the business. Good luck.<br /><br /><h4>"Flash Memory"</h4>Yes of course. You do get some flash-moments in front of people's eyes. Here and there, you do get times to catch their eye. Someone's Retweet, Facebook share, Steam's recommendation. It's possible. That is what I'm working on improving for my game (and maybe you are too) so I wrote this for myself. It's a sort of an action-list. Or one-sided argument. So this is mostly for me, but if it helps others, that's groovy.<br />&nbsp; <br />I'm getting <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PigEatBall"><i>Pig Eat Ball</i></a> ready for Early Access on Steam. It's really scary. I know it needs more work and more polish. I've made <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Mommy%27s%20Best%20Games">other games on Steam</a>. Somehow it seems to get harder rather than easier.<br />Here's what I figure someone should say when seeing my game.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Desired Player Reaction</i>&nbsp;</b><br /><b>or&nbsp;</b><br /><b>"<u>The 3 That's</u>"</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1. What is that?&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2. I have not done that. </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>3. I want to do that.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><h4>"What is that?"</h4>Your game has to be instantly recognizable. The same of course goes for movies, children's books, comics, any visual medium. When you see my game, I want you to *know* for certain it is <i>Pig Eat Ball</i>. Not some other pixel-art retro looking game. It's very difficult to find a unique, intriguing style.<br />So far, the best way I've found is to enhance the qualities unique to your game, through gameplay, but also through your art. My game has lots of kinda-gross-funny barf. So I continue to find ways to "up the barf".<br /><br />And if you see my game, and don't know the name, <b>I want you to want to find out</b>. You need a look for your game, such that if the viewer does not know the game's name, they'll still remember the look for next time that they see it. And hopefully they'll actually find out the name, and want to learn more.<br /><br /><u>Ask yourself:</u> What is the thing in my game, that when player's see it, they'll know it's <b>my game</b>? Is there something unique? What exactly is it? Can it be improved or enhanced?<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QE725Ibt91o/VrwhKF2offI/AAAAAAAABoc/c6KJXv2IOU4/s1600/PEB_midbarf_Feb2016.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QE725Ibt91o/VrwhKF2offI/AAAAAAAABoc/c6KJXv2IOU4/s640/PEB_midbarf_Feb2016.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The current 'barf situation', not perfect, still refining it.</td></tr></tbody></table><h4>"I want to do that" </h4>When someone sees your game, you want them to say: "I want to do that". It's a very simple goal for your trailer or gif. When they see a movie trailer, they should want to watch more. Games are different--people should want to do, to operate, the very thing they are watching in the trailer. It should get them excited to do the thing you are showing them. If you can't communicate that, you're doomed. At the end of the trailer, does the person know the cool thing to do in your game? Do they want to be in your game world?<br /><h4>"I have not done that"</h4>*You* know your game is fun. You are taking for granted that they, the viewer, think it is fun. Meditate on this: <b>The viewer does not think your game is fun.</b> They have no idea. This is the hardest part--the ephemeral part. You have to communicate the fun parts of your game, to a cold person--someone who has no impression of your game.<br />I love running and shooting in games. I love shooting monsters. I love jumping on platforms. But I have played many of these. It's very common for me to see a game, that has these components, but the video has not convinced me that it has something unique to offer.<br />Is the game hiding something cool? Perhaps. But I will never know. If the game 'spoiled' a cool looking thing in the trailer, I may have gone for it, and played the game. But as it stands, I will never play that game. Maybe if it didn't hold back, and showed me the cool thing, I would be more interested.<br /><h4>"75% in the trailer"</h4>Whenever I watch any game trailer, I assume the game only spoiled 75% of the cool parts in the trailer. If you showed me 3 really cool things, and I want to experience those 3 cool things, then I'll hope for one more hidden cool thing. If you show me only 1 thing that is half-way cool, I now assume you have one other thing that is only-sorta-barely cool that you are hiding. So if you spend your trailer only showing me something sorta-cool, but you are in fact hiding 3 amazing things from my view--I'll never know (or not for a very long time), because I've passed on your game.<br /><h4>"Not the last boss!" </h4>No one wants the final cool thing to be spoiled in the trailer. Why? Well, obviously the surprise of the final boss/area/thing is ruined. But I think the real sadness would be, that it would mean your game doesn't have enough to show me--that instead only the final conflict--the thing most people will never get to it, had to be used in the trailer, in order to build up enough cool things to show me a single minute worth of your game. That would be sad.<br /><h4>"What else is there?"</h4>But you may say, "but what if they only think there is barf (or whatever) in your game?"&nbsp; Well, now you have a good problem. The problem is, you have their attention, and you have to find "the rest" to tell them more. That's okay, you'll find more. But the first part is, getting their attention. This is about making sure, they even know about your game *at all*. Focus on that right now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1. What is that?&nbsp;</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2. I have not done that. </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>3. I want to do that.</b></div>Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-40986323873966549052016-02-03T07:41:00.000-08:002016-02-03T07:45:29.139-08:00Development Year in Review 2015We can't find out what's wrong or what went well if we don't take time to see what we've done!<br />With that, let's look at what Mommy's Best Games did in 2015!<br /><br />We released a new game this year, <b><i>Finger Derpy</i></b>. We also re-released 4 of our classic games, as enhanced ports to Steam, and called it the "Mommy's Best Action Pack". <br /><br /><h3>January</h3><i><b><a href="http://www.pigeatball.com/">Pig Eat Ball</a></b></i> is the main project, but after talking to Nintendo and Sony and wanting to have the game on those platforms, it's clear we can't do it as it stands. The game is written in Java and simply won't run on consoles. I talk to John Meister from nearby game group <a href="http://supersoul.co/">Super Soul</a> and we start working together. His team starts to port the game to Unity. This will allow us to more easily choose what <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> is available on.<br /><br />In the meantime I start heavily working on <a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/fingerderpy.html"><i>Finger Derpy</i></a>. Matthew and Andrew continue work on <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> core content. This means Matthew is writing code for new gameplay objects, and Andrew is designing and building new levels.<br /><h3>February</h3>I focus on <i>Finger Derpy</i> and getting deals with local businesses to support the game. <a href="http://mommysbestgames.com/Presskit/sheet.php?p=finger_derpy">Here in the presskit</a>, you can read more about our integration with Louisville landmarks.<br /><h3>March</h3>More of the same, development wise.<br />Plus we show our games at the Louisville Arcade Expo!<br /><br /><h3>April</h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jKWn9JrzWLI/VqEAmMB6zwI/AAAAAAAABoE/29oIg3bW9c8/s1600/fingerderpy_tile_android4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jKWn9JrzWLI/VqEAmMB6zwI/AAAAAAAABoE/29oIg3bW9c8/s200/fingerderpy_tile_android4.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger Derpy launched April 9th</td></tr></tbody></table>Released <i>Finger Derpy</i>! First to iOS on the 9th, then to Google Play on the 19th. We held our big "Chomp the BIT" launch party that Friday. We organized the event in which 25 local developers showed off their games at an arcade bar in town.<br />Apple featured the game in the App Store as a 'Best New Game' which was a big deal and really helped downloads. <br />Also youtuber 'Cuqquake' featured the game, got plenty of views, and we've gotten a decent number of user reviews saying they saw the game on her channel.<br /><br /><h3><br /></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TuMo2PmEjm8/VqEAatCTVWI/AAAAAAAABn4/xiE8aB5K_Nk/s1600/EventsAprilMay.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="381" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TuMo2PmEjm8/VqEAatCTVWI/AAAAAAAABn4/xiE8aB5K_Nk/s400/EventsAprilMay.png" width="400" /></a></div><h3>May</h3>During April and May we showed Finger Derpy at 10 local shows (in 5 weeks). It was exhausting. Between all of them, the Pegasus Preview Parade and the Thunderblast were beneficial in terms of download numbers. I think this was a matter of 'correct engagement' with large crowds that actually were interested in games.<br /><b>Some of the events we showed the game at just had lots of drunken people.</b> There was high traffic, but low interest/engagement/memory retention. Just because there's lots of people at an event doesn't mean you should show your game there.<br /><br /><h3>June</h3>Started porting the Mommy's Best Action Pack to Steam. This involved changing the games <i>Weapon of Choice</i>, <i>Shoot 1UP</i>, <i>Explosionade</i>, and <i>Game Type</i>, and making them great Steam ports. These games were all originally released between 2008 and 2011. They were made in XNA.<br />This involved adding lots of extra, though small features, which takes time. Some of the games did get new content as well, such as the collectible MBG pies in <i>Weapon of Choice</i>.<br />Scott Slucher from the U of L area started as a coop student working on the port.<br /><br /><h3>July</h3>MBG Action Pack porting by Scott and myself.<br />I also help Andrew and Matthew continue on PEB. We try to limit too much extra additions because John has to constantly port things from the old Java to the new, half-working Unity build.<br /><br /><h3>August</h3>Much of the same as July.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E_Zu1Wec5zI/VqEBZRI5HfI/AAAAAAAABoQ/kfQ9LhqTRlw/s1600/MBG_Actionpack_art_outnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E_Zu1Wec5zI/VqEBZRI5HfI/AAAAAAAABoQ/kfQ9LhqTRlw/s400/MBG_Actionpack_art_outnow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><h3>September</h3>Shipped the <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">Mommy's Best Action Pack</a> on September 23rd!<br /><br />For Pig Eat Ball, we're continuing to wait on the Unity build to be finished and usable on our side. Until we can write new code in the actual Unity build and until I can give Andrew the level editor that way, we have to continue with the Java build, which is tough having two versions being developed.<br />&nbsp; <br /><h3>November </h3><i>Finger Derpy</i> Thanksgiving update!<br />Got featured again by Cupquake, definitely helped our player numbers.<br />Working on <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> gameplay in Java, as the Unity build continues.<br />Steam Autumn sale for MBG Action Pack. <br /><br /><h3>December</h3><i>Finger Derpy</i> Winter update! <br />Unfortunately no big youtubers covered it, but the numbers were up through Christmas.<br />Working on <i>Pig Eat Ball</i> gameplay as the Unity build continues.<br />Steam Holiday sale for MBG Action Pack. <br /><h4></h4><h3>Finances</h3>This was our most prolific game year, if you look at straight 'games shipped'--we ported 4 games and released 1 new game. So 5 games were released in this year. <b>But this was our worst year financially.</b><br /><a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/111600/"><i>Serious Sam Double D XXL</i></a> continues to sell well and supports us, but it's sales are slowly declining.<br />In years past we were releasing one big game every two years. 2011 was Serious Sam DD to Steam, and 2013 was Serious Sam DD XXL to XBLA and then back to Steam (with lots more content).<br />2015 should have been <i>Pig Eat Ball</i>, in theory, but it's simply not finished. So instead, we released a free-to-play game, with ad-supported revenue and In-App Purchases, but while it made some money, it has still not covered it's development costs. Then we also released 4 ports of our older games, but they did not sell as well as hoped.<br /><br /><h3>2016</h3>The good news for January is Super Soul finished the Unity port and the game works great! We're working on the game now in Unity and things are moving swiftly. <br />This is the year for <i>Pig Eat Ball</i>.<br />Let's make it great, and get it out the door!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2qhweF00_Q/VBG-X88e7sI/AAAAAAAABc8/j-3iPKtVDFA/s1600/PigEatBallBow_medium_circle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H2qhweF00_Q/VBG-X88e7sI/AAAAAAAABc8/j-3iPKtVDFA/s320/PigEatBallBow_medium_circle.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-28120676648864369372015-10-30T06:49:00.001-07:002015-10-30T06:50:48.465-07:00Action Pack New FeaturesWe recently released our classic action games to Steam in the Mommy's Best Action Pack. The games are available individually or in this handy bundle: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/</a><br />&nbsp;But these aren't just straight ports--they're new, improved, and super high quality PC entertainment! <br />Assuming you already know about the original releases, I'll detail what's new in the Steam versions.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i>Weapon of Choice</i></h3>Store link:&nbsp; <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373600">http://store.steampowered.com/app/373600</a><br /><h4>All New Achievements </h4>This game never had Achievements, as such, everything in it is new! Of course, there are some easy ones (such as saving an operative) and some very tough ones. A few of the most difficult Achievements involve getting really skilled at using Xerxes and his Jet Engine gun. Those are 'Snappy Start' which is a speed run of the first level, and 'Airtime' which requires you to float through level 1 to the boss, without touching the ground!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YU-ihX_9dPo/VjJJYPBnxUI/AAAAAAAABmU/kbZB8A0TbHY/s1600/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-18-30-89.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YU-ihX_9dPo/VjJJYPBnxUI/AAAAAAAABmU/kbZB8A0TbHY/s320/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-18-30-89.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Airtime will take some serious practice!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The most involved Achievement, which really changes the game, is 'Tasty'. This requires you to find 13 hidden MBG pies scattered throughout all the levels. Don't worry, it's not impossible, as there is a list that is shown on the title screen, once you find your first pie, to help you know where to look. "Out of reach places" are a good place to start!<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltpt3-Hk1EE/VjJJCa7iniI/AAAAAAAABmE/zzDdX_lafNA/s1600/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-17-00-63.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltpt3-Hk1EE/VjJJCa7iniI/AAAAAAAABmE/zzDdX_lafNA/s320/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-17-00-63.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pie list</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HNo7b6tfsOc/VjJJHVGo7UI/AAAAAAAABmM/NrBlZEKmaKE/s1600/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-13-12-75.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HNo7b6tfsOc/VjJJHVGo7UI/AAAAAAAABmM/NrBlZEKmaKE/s320/WoCGame%2B2015-10-29%2B11-13-12-75.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one's a gimmie! Go get it!</td></tr></tbody></table>Here's a list of more features added to the Steam version of <b>Weapon of Choice</b>:<br /><ul><li>Increased player run speed</li><li>Increased resolution in new, widescreen view </li><li>Keyboard controls (in addition to the original Xbox controller option)</li><li>Fully remappable buttons and inputs&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Steam features: Achievements, Trading Cards, and Steam Cloud for saves</li></ul>Speaking of which, the Trading Cards and backgrounds are awesome! Enjoy!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2Q7LjAxn2Q/VjLx12p_v2I/AAAAAAAABnk/x7bQ8IWdJog/s1600/profile_background3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z2Q7LjAxn2Q/VjLx12p_v2I/AAAAAAAABnk/x7bQ8IWdJog/s320/profile_background3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moses Longhorn, taking care of business</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i>Explosionade</i></h3>Store link:&nbsp; <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373620">http://store.steampowered.com/app/373620</a> <br /><h4>New Enemies and Level Layouts</h4>The main issue I had with <b>Explosionade </b>was it was a little easy and didn't have enough unique monsters. I made sure to address that in this new version! There are now nearly double the basic enemy types from the original release! The levels, especially in Serious mode, have all been re-tuned to feature some of the new creatures and bump up the difficulty a bit. The nastiest ones are Horronym Bruisers with the laser cannon. They are relentless and require some real strategy to knock them out of their foxholes.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNRJA5h_VUo/VjJKDE83WgI/AAAAAAAABmg/peT-MZjSJzo/s1600/Explosionade%2B2015-10-24%2B15-24-17-19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNRJA5h_VUo/VjJKDE83WgI/AAAAAAAABmg/peT-MZjSJzo/s320/Explosionade%2B2015-10-24%2B15-24-17-19.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That laser Bruiser will take you down a notch!</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwjejJcEBgI/VjJKM3r8P9I/AAAAAAAABmo/cKAudo7L5Bw/s1600/Explosionade%2B2015-09-22%2B10-54-03-29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwjejJcEBgI/VjJKM3r8P9I/AAAAAAAABmo/cKAudo7L5Bw/s320/Explosionade%2B2015-09-22%2B10-54-03-29.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Jellies tend to take over you if you don't keep their numbers in check. </td></tr></tbody></table><h4>Practice Mode</h4>There is now a rich Practice menu system, that let's you select any level, in any difficulty you've already reached, so that you can practice your strategy for the highest score. Whether you want to go for all kills, or go for fastest time, this is the way to climb the leaderboards.<br /><br />More features added now to the Steam version of <b>Explosionade</b>:<br /><ul><li>Improved grenades for better control (you can hold them longer, letting them bounce even further if you want.)&nbsp; </li><li>Color adjustment to player 2 for better visibility;&nbsp; laser sight on the mech to improve aiming</li><li>Keyboard controls (in addition to the original Xbox controller option)</li><li>Fully remappable buttons and inputs&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Steam features: Leaderboards per difficulty, Achievements, Trading Cards, and Steam Cloud for saves</li></ul><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i>Shoot 1UP</i>&nbsp;</h3>Store link:&nbsp; <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373610">http://store.steampowered.com/app/373610</a><br /><br /><h4>New Accessibility Modes</h4>Since it's launch <b>Shoot 1UP</b> has been considered by the accessibility world (from One Switch to Able Gamers) as a great shmup with wonderful accessibility features for disabled gamers. We've continued to extend the reach, with new "Goof Off Mode". This changes the game, so it spawns 1UPs at a more frequent rate, making it easier to get to 30 or even 60 ships. <br />This new mode is perfect for young kids, playing when you're tired, or playing with a casual (non-gamer) friend. The Leaderboards won't register your score, since you're sort of cheating, but it's a lot of fun, and a good way to practice later levels.<br /><br />There is also the new "Turn-Based Mode", which pauses the game when no input is given. This allows novice or disabled gamers a break, to take it all in first, then make their move (which resumes the action). If you're moving or shooting, the game plays as normal, but as soon as you let off of either, the game pauses for you to start again.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kgsM-3be8s/VjJLOiLux6I/AAAAAAAABm0/HP1kU5Xw65Y/s1600/Shoot1UP%2B2015-10-29%2B11-32-07-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kgsM-3be8s/VjJLOiLux6I/AAAAAAAABm0/HP1kU5Xw65Y/s320/Shoot1UP%2B2015-10-29%2B11-32-07-05.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New selection options</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFTG7WeaWbs/VjJLRFvZ7_I/AAAAAAAABm8/4GZrXm7D6cg/s1600/Shoot1UP%2B2015-10-03%2B16-47-20-78.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dFTG7WeaWbs/VjJLRFvZ7_I/AAAAAAAABm8/4GZrXm7D6cg/s320/Shoot1UP%2B2015-10-03%2B16-47-20-78.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Goof Off mode, it's easy and fun to get to max ships fast. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Additional<b> Shoot 1UP</b> features for the Steam version<br /><ul><li>Improved 'score drop' art</li><li>Warning prompts for enemies coming from the sides or bottom.</li><li>Option to *add* more clothing to the robo-girls in Hao.</li><li>Keyboard controls (in addition to the original Xbox controller option)</li><li>Fully remappable buttons and inputs&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Steam features: Leaderboards per difficulty, Achievements, Trading Cards, and Steam Cloud for saves</li></ul><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><i>Game Type</i></h3>Store link:&nbsp; <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373630">http://store.steampowered.com/app/373630 </a><br /><h4>New Boss</h4>There is now an actual boss to fight in <b>Game Type</b>, and it is of course, the cat from Cat Chat. He hides behind a desk, throwing out different paw, and hairball attacks, along with calling for his tiny, cat minions. The Cat Chat boss shows up at the end of every 3rd loop.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CNcAM_Zte2s/VjJL3pN6cVI/AAAAAAAABnE/DpBxhnlqWds/s1600/GameType%2B2015-10-29%2B11-42-36-12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CNcAM_Zte2s/VjJL3pN6cVI/AAAAAAAABnE/DpBxhnlqWds/s320/GameType%2B2015-10-29%2B11-42-36-12.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat fight!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4>All New Achievements</h4>Like <b>Weapon of Choice</b>, <b>Game Type</b> never had Achievements for it's Xbox 360 release. Now it has plenty of extra challenges! There's several points-based goals of course, but there's also some fun to be had snooping around the faux Xbox 360 dashboard. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eMh34hSas_M/VjJL34ouCrI/AAAAAAAABnI/bW3sIk7dSqY/s1600/GameType%2B2015-10-29%2B11-38-22-20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eMh34hSas_M/VjJL34ouCrI/AAAAAAAABnI/bW3sIk7dSqY/s320/GameType%2B2015-10-29%2B11-38-22-20.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The New Achievements Menu</td></tr></tbody></table><h4>Rebalanced</h4>The entire game is much more interesting, and playable for the long term as I worked with playtesters from the hardcore shmup community. They really pushed on it, looking for spots where the game was too unpredictable to feel like you could improve at it, or areas that were slow, or boring, or needed clarity. We've improved many of the sprites for the bullets and enemies to make sure everything is easily visible, because when the game starts to *really* speed up around loop 6, you need all the clarity and focus you can muster.<br /><br /><br />More improvements for <b>Game Type</b> on Steam:<br /><ul><li>Keyboard controls (in addition to the original Xbox controller option)</li><li>Fully remappable buttons and inputs&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Steam features: Leaderboards for All Time and WEEKLY(!), Achievements, Trading Cards, and Steam Cloud for saves</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: center;">Mommy's Best Action Pack </h3>And that was just the enhanced features!<br />Make sure to check out the Steam pages for all the original features in each game. Happy shooting!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-25045695570103603402015-09-29T07:26:00.000-07:002015-09-29T07:26:39.378-07:00Case Study: One Game's Amazing Click-Rate on Steam(Vagueness: The take-away points of this will be intact, but if I act vague about exact numbers or certain practices, it's because I don't want to violate the non-disclosure agreement we (and other developers) have with Valve regarding their store.)<br /><br /><h3>TL:DR</h3>That little, tiny strip of your game logo on Steam is really, really useful. Take a second look at it, and try to improve it to grab more eyes. Also, consider tweaking your Tags.<br />Unless you've released on Steam before, you probably don't know how extremely powerful that slot is.<br /><br />We had <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">4 games released in one day</a>, and we compare and contrast why one game got a lot more clicks than others.<br /><h3>The Steam Front Page</h3>This article is about examining a tiny sliver of art which very much influences how much traffic ends up on your game's Steam page. As we can see by visiting the main page on Steam, there are several categories where games are shown.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h9tNps4NvsQ/VgqY-O1FtWI/AAAAAAAABlY/_oCIuSVeaFw/s1600/steam_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h9tNps4NvsQ/VgqY-O1FtWI/AAAAAAAABlY/_oCIuSVeaFw/s320/steam_front.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front page on Steam, September 29th, 2015</td></tr></tbody></table><br />We can see the large, top part--currently it shows <i>80 Days</i>--which cycles through many games and the lower, smaller section that reads "New On Steam" just above.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DOIobPZWtN0/VgqZCnAuxvI/AAAAAAAABlk/MfO6L-kI5ZA/s1600/steam_frontB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DOIobPZWtN0/VgqZCnAuxvI/AAAAAAAABlk/MfO6L-kI5ZA/s640/steam_frontB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The valuable, New On Steam section.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This "New On Steam" part is where we'll focus on our time and thoughts, but let's first look at a few points.<br /><br /><h3>Front Page Flow</h3>Now, without running afoul of any agreements we have with Steam, we can still determine and talk about some interesting points. Anyone that spends some time analyzing the front page for a few days can see a pattern. If you keep track of games that show up on the Upcoming tab near the bottom, and then compare them to games in the New On Steam section above, you can see that it seems that games that went through the Upcoming section get some time in the New On Steam section. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T09t9TgSBfU/VgqZCZEnGLI/AAAAAAAABlg/8MC-3wCFAXg/s1600/steam_upcoming.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T09t9TgSBfU/VgqZCZEnGLI/AAAAAAAABlg/8MC-3wCFAXg/s320/steam_upcoming.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Upcoming Games reasonably seem to show up in the New On Steam section.</td></tr></tbody></table>So we have the idea that, 'Upcoming Games' move to 'New On Steam'.<br /><br /><h3>Lots of Eyes</h3>Without saying how many potential times gamers could be shown your game banner, let me just assure you it's a substantial amount, that any developer would be happy to have.<br />It's a very nice setup, since independent of your marketing budget the New On Steam section affords (apparently?) every game an opportunity for a lot of people to see it.<br /><b>So, let's accept the assumption that the</b><b> New On Steam section is very valuable and powerful.</b><br /><br /><h3>High Traffic Analytics</h3>Once you have your game on Steam, you get access to some nice traffic analytics, breaking down how many people saw your game banner in the New On Steam section but also how many clicked on it. You get to see total views and total clicks.<br /><br />I'm personally in an uncommon situation, in that we recently ported <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">4 of our popular XBLIG games to Steam</a>, and released them all on the same day. From that, I now have 4 data points from the same time period. While anyone could simply watch the Steam front page for a while and track how long games show up in the New On Steam section, I'll tell you, for us all 4 games stayed on there about 10 hours each.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jj4wpyCHDpg/VgoP_P3CDOI/AAAAAAAABlI/lkVlhlXEXPU/s1600/MBG_Actionpack_art_outnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jj4wpyCHDpg/VgoP_P3CDOI/AAAAAAAABlI/lkVlhlXEXPU/s320/MBG_Actionpack_art_outnow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mommy's Best Action Pack promo</td></tr></tbody></table>Steam also shares with you the *average click-through rate of other games*.<br />One of our games matched this average.<br />Two of our games were nearly twice the average.<br /><b>And our final game had over *three and half* times the average number of clicks.</b><br /><br /><h3>The Click-Through Puzzle</h3>All of our games in the "<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">Mommy's Best Action Pack</a>" were critically praised over the years. The popularity of the games goes in this order: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373610/"><i>Shoot 1UP</i></a>, <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373600/"><i>Weapon of Choice</i></a>, <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373620/"><i>Explosionade</i></a>, and then <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/373630/"><i>Game Type</i></a>. <i>Game Type</i> is a fun but very strange game, plus it's an extremely niche 'caravan' style shoot 'em up. It never sold well, but it was respected.<br /><br />Of course one has to factor in 'brand awareness' when considering why someone would click on your game banner, after they see it. Maybe they've heard of it before and are interested! (That's of course exactly how brand awareness is supposed to work!)<br />Instead, in this case, the click-through breakdown went like this: <i>Game Type</i> had 3.5x the average number of click-throughs. Shoot 1UP and Weapon of Choice both were over the average at about 1.8x times. And Explosionade simply had an average number of click-throughs. <br /><br /><b>What does this mean?</b> For me it shows what I'd expect, that <i>Shoot 1UP</i> and <i>Weapon of Choice</i> had some brand recognition, and brought some people through to their game pages. This is good.<br /><br /><b>But the puzzle for you to consider is:</b> What happened to <i>Explosionade </i>(average click-through) and <i>Game Type</i> (amazing click through)?<br /><br /><h3>Compare and Contrast Clicks</h3>Obviously we all work hard to create the game logo and the title treatment. But the wide, small game banner used in the New On Steam section is tough. It's horizontal and it's small. You don't have a lot of space to show off your game... or do you? <br />I took this as an opportunity to consider the art used for each of my 4 games and you should look at yours as well.<br /><br />Here's what the banners for each game looked like at launch, during the traffic period in question.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BG_5GvytFRU/VgoMnwp4KlI/AAAAAAAABkw/qFwQihW_CwI/s1600/ActionpackBanners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BG_5GvytFRU/VgoMnwp4KlI/AAAAAAAABkw/qFwQihW_CwI/s640/ActionpackBanners.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original versions</td></tr></tbody></table>Here are my notes from looking at the art.<br />The <i>Explosionade</i> title takes up more room than any other game art here. <i>Game Type</i> text takes up the least space. <i>Weapon of Choice</i> and <i>Shoot 1UP</i> are very colorful by comparison, and bright. <i>Game Type</i> has an identifiable human girl, kicking, which is strange. You can kind of make out a cat in <i>Game Type</i>. For <i>Explosionade</i>, I can make out two bullets sort of, but I can't tell what's happening on the lower left, it's mostly a wasted opportunity. The monster on the bottom right of <i>Explosionade</i> shows his eye, but loses a lot of context, which could mean for some people that the coolness of seeing the glowering monster is lost. The <i>Weapon of Choice</i> 'font' is weird and non-standard and has strange organic shapes all over it. <i>Shoot 1UP</i> has a girl who is peaking over the edge, this is titillating.<br /><br />Here is the new version of the game art.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uMXSt1N-6vg/VgoN-kTo4wI/AAAAAAAABk8/OQABPCZMhIg/s1600/ActionpackBannersAfter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uMXSt1N-6vg/VgoN-kTo4wI/AAAAAAAABk8/OQABPCZMhIg/s400/ActionpackBannersAfter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New versions (only Game Type and Explosionade were changed)</td></tr></tbody></table>The main changes to <i>Explosionade </i>are to give things more context, and reduce the text size. Keep in mind players will see your game name, just to the right, in plain text. They will know the game's name, so can reduce your title art somewhat if you have more interesting things to show. I've increased the space the mech on the lower left takes up, and increased the space the monster on the right takes up to indicate the cool fighting in the game. <i>Game Type</i> was made brighter and the other two games were not changed.<br /><br /><h3>Let Tags Do Their Thing</h3>The other thing to consider is that I labelled all my games "Action", and "Indie". There is a *broad* selection of&nbsp; games on Steam that fall into those categories. I wasted my chance by not labeling <i>Shoot 1UP</i> and <i>Game Type</i> as "shoot 'em up" (much fewer games) and I wasted my chance to label <i>Explosionade</i> as "Mech" (very few games). <br />Players could have quickly seen those words just to the right and had another reason to click!<br /><br /><h3>What's the Point Now? The Moment Is Not Gone!</h3>Why improve the art, after the games are out of the New On Steam part? Because that same art is used all over Steam, in the 'More Like This' section and the 'Recently Updated'. You get more chances to catch player's eyes!<br /><b>Redemption</b>! If your game had a poor performing click-through rate on launch, you can do better it!<br /><br />If you have not released your game consider:<br />As I said, if I could do it over, I should have added more useful tags to my games (the "User-Defined tags", not the search words, which are also important). Adding custom tags that make sense to your game, but some that are also specific. <br /><br />In any case, take another look at your game banner, especially the small one, and make sure you're making most of it.<b> There are a lot of eyes on that tiny piece of art and you can get more clicks with it!</b><br /><br />----<br /><br /><i>(And since we're sort of talking about designing box art (but smaller, and wider) I found this to be an inspiring article on how others made some very nice art: <a href="http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/8/27/9207581/video-game-box-art">http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/8/27/9207581/video-game-box-art</a>) </i><i></i><br /><i><br /></i><i>(And finally, please chime in as to why you think </i>Game Type<i> scored so well and </i>Explosionade <i>only scored 'average'. I'd love to hear different points of view, thank you!)</i>Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-50015916225334957032015-09-23T10:54:00.000-07:002015-09-23T10:54:38.036-07:00Shoot 1UP and More on Steam Today<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb5CrYkOUzk/VgLmQRiaLzI/AAAAAAAABi8/3rv_8Fm53o8/s1600/MBG_Actionpack_art_tall_535_outnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hb5CrYkOUzk/VgLmQRiaLzI/AAAAAAAABi8/3rv_8Fm53o8/s320/MBG_Actionpack_art_tall_535_outnow.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Mommy's Best Action Pack is available now on Steam! <br />Store Page: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/">http://store.steampowered.com/sub/76770/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The price is a handsome $7.99 and you get 4 of the weirdest, wildest 2D action games around!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All games have been enhanced for Steam with Achievements, Trading Cards, Leaderboards and more.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;">And each game has been remastered and improved for the perfect PC experience!</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D9-iDRMoQUc/VgLmc0zQS3I/AAAAAAAABjE/mJT2wXTdH1w/s1600/Shoot1UP%2B2015-08-25%2B14-32-17-24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D9-iDRMoQUc/VgLmc0zQS3I/AAAAAAAABjE/mJT2wXTdH1w/s320/Shoot1UP%2B2015-08-25%2B14-32-17-24.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoot 1UP and the stage 2 boss!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0agMlYy3Rb8/VgLmfOZv5vI/AAAAAAAABjM/S29AmNL-A3w/s1600/Shoot1UP3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0agMlYy3Rb8/VgLmfOZv5vI/AAAAAAAABjM/S29AmNL-A3w/s320/Shoot1UP3.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoot 1UP and the Trundle Fisher from stage 3!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XpoSI6fiJU8/VgLmm65PWiI/AAAAAAAABjU/pEMrEBDYcUE/s1600/Explosionade%2B2015-08-29%2B21-01-02-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XpoSI6fiJU8/VgLmm65PWiI/AAAAAAAABjU/pEMrEBDYcUE/s320/Explosionade%2B2015-08-29%2B21-01-02-05.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alien-stomping in Explosionade</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1zlNKkS0bEo/VgLmwguaJtI/AAAAAAAABjc/upkv5fWYK70/s1600/WoCGame%2B2015-08-24%2B15-53-23-76.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1zlNKkS0bEo/VgLmwguaJtI/AAAAAAAABjc/upkv5fWYK70/s320/WoCGame%2B2015-08-24%2B15-53-23-76.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moses and his laser satellite gun in Weapon of Choice</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIDIJNOcMyo/VgLmzuPNNhI/AAAAAAAABjk/Q-5JkekpP7Q/s1600/GameType1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VIDIJNOcMyo/VgLmzuPNNhI/AAAAAAAABjk/Q-5JkekpP7Q/s320/GameType1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoodie Girl battling the ads in Game Type</td></tr></tbody></table>If you've enjoyed our games over the years, be sure to tell your PC friends to check 'em out. It's a big help to us, thank you!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-59784578776264723752015-09-10T07:54:00.003-07:002015-09-10T07:54:46.909-07:00Mommy's Best Action Pack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpfE1A34Wp4/VfGZLvO_aUI/AAAAAAAABig/EqU3AokvyoU/s1600/MBG_Actionpack_art3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RpfE1A34Wp4/VfGZLvO_aUI/AAAAAAAABig/EqU3AokvyoU/s320/MBG_Actionpack_art3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />All our award-winning action games we made for the Xbox 360 are now coming to Steam!<br />The games are <b>Weapon of Choice</b>, <b>Shoot 1UP</b>, <b>Explosionade</b>, and <b>Game Type</b>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4zmJUCEm_iI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4zmJUCEm_iI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br /><br />Each game has been re-tuned, improved, and enhanced using all the feedback over the years to make these version the ultimate experience!<br />They are also enhanced with Steam Leaderboards, Achievements, Trading Cards, remappable keyboard controls (and of course Xbox 360 controller support), and more!<br /><br />The <b>Mommy's Best Action Pack</b> is out on Steam on September 23rd for <b>$7.99</b>!<br /><br />Boy, I've been working really hard on porting the games, and improving them over the summer--it's really fun to get to talk about it finally!Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-63945336226498547372015-08-18T18:15:00.001-07:002015-08-18T18:15:55.542-07:00Cooking in Mommy's Best KitchenHey, time to check out what we're up to.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PZ-C-stL958/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PZ-C-stL958?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>Those games sure look tasty!<br />And steamin' hot!<br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-86756226001075229122015-06-18T08:02:00.001-07:002015-06-18T08:02:02.521-07:00Two Weeks and Two Big Shows<h3>Derby City Comic Con</h3>For the next two weekends Mommy's Best Games is excited be demoing and sharing our games locally at some very fun Comic Cons!<br /><br />June 20th and 21st, come out to the <b>Derby City Comic Con</b> here in Louisville, KY.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.derbycitycomiccon.com/images/DCCClogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.derbycitycomiccon.com/images/DCCClogo.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/derby-city-comic-con-tickets-15591463487">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/derby-city-comic-con-tickets-15591463487</a><br />Tickets for both days are only $20 and kids 10 and under get in free!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eT3nSFMYOdg/VYLX1XgS0TI/AAAAAAAABhw/BkSOxRsLHOg/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eT3nSFMYOdg/VYLX1XgS0TI/AAAAAAAABhw/BkSOxRsLHOg/s200/logo.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />We'll have <i><b><a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/fingerderpy.html">Finger Derpy</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/pigeatball.html">Pig Eat Ball</a></b></i> on display there, some come by and challenge us to a game!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8v4I0iG2pGA/VYLbrkyuhRI/AAAAAAAABh8/D6WqSBRLmFk/s1600/DDCC_MBG_2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8v4I0iG2pGA/VYLbrkyuhRI/AAAAAAAABh8/D6WqSBRLmFk/s320/DDCC_MBG_2015.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Find BOOTH 48 to play this weekend!<br /><br /><h3>Indy PopCon</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://indypopcon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/newlogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://indypopcon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/newlogo.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />And then the weekend after, we'll be up in Indianapolis for the <b>Indy PopCon</b>! It runs June 26, 27, and 28th for three big days of comics and games!<br /><a href="https://indypopcon.com/buy-tickets/#/cart/choose">https://indypopcon.com/buy-tickets/#/cart/choose</a><br />Three-day admission is $45 for the whole weekend, or $20 a day, and kids 10 and under are free!<br /><br />See you soon! <br /><br /><br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-5426182850744994522015-04-24T09:26:00.001-07:002015-04-24T09:26:19.164-07:00Finger Derpy is Released!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VX_z_sDaENk/VTprHpVphmI/AAAAAAAABgg/LvA32FYcnwU/s1600/finger_derpy_medium_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VX_z_sDaENk/VTprHpVphmI/AAAAAAAABgg/LvA32FYcnwU/s1600/finger_derpy_medium_logo.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><br />We just released a new game, and it's called <a href="http://www.mommysbestgames.com/fingerderpy.html"><i><b>Finger Derpy</b></i></a>!<br />You can play it now! It's out for iPhones/iPads:<br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/finger-derpy/id977473798?mt=8">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/finger-derpy/id977473798?mt=8</a><br />And it's on Android phones and tablets on Google Play:<br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.MommysBestGames.FingerDerpy">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.MommysBestGames.FingerDerpy</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEPuhMzFNbY/VTpsZsg0GuI/AAAAAAAABgs/cKwACGHzX1c/s1600/FingerDerpy_track_ipad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEPuhMzFNbY/VTpsZsg0GuI/AAAAAAAABgs/cKwACGHzX1c/s1600/FingerDerpy_track_ipad.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />The game answers the age-old question--what if horses controlled like canoes and they had rubber necks?<br />The game's control system is unique. Instead of automatically running, you have to control your horses front hooves, with your two fingers to get the horse to run. Tapping left, turns your horse forward and to the right. Tapping right, turns him left. It feels backwards, but you can get the hang of it after a bit of practice. <br /><br />The game takes place in a stylized version of nearby Louisville KY, and we even partnered with local, iconic businesses to lend more authenticity to the experience. Places like Muhammad Ali Center, KY Science Center, Louisville Stoneware, CenterStage at the JCC, Louisville Orchestra and more are *in* the game!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLTd6EdW-rQ/VTpsgT7zRII/AAAAAAAABg0/WCNDJB51G4c/s1600/FingerDerpy_mainst_ipad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLTd6EdW-rQ/VTpsgT7zRII/AAAAAAAABg0/WCNDJB51G4c/s1600/FingerDerpy_mainst_ipad.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The player dodges the Foucault pendulum from the Kentucky Science Center on Main St.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>How? Well each business has a unique gameplay element. For instance the Orchestra has timpani drums, the sound from which can knock the player's horse around. Stoneware has floating teapots that the player can dodge or crash through! <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVpmeoqlmys/VTpslEgH-NI/AAAAAAAABhM/2ItbzRzxpQA/s1600/FingerDerpy_teapots_ipad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVpmeoqlmys/VTpslEgH-NI/AAAAAAAABhM/2ItbzRzxpQA/s1600/FingerDerpy_teapots_ipad.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A group of teapots from Louisville Stoneware circle in the tobacco fields.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Solo mode let's you upgrade your horse, and unlock new horse breeds with new special powers, so there's considerable depth, even though it's a mobile game.<br />The Party mode is very unique in that it allows up to 4 players to race each other, all on the same device! Yes, this works best on a larger device like a tablet, but we've done plenty of races as well on a phone.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wk7QkcbnF-Y/VTpsiEZ_j8I/AAAAAAAABg8/3r281SSmNUU/s1600/FingerDerpy_race1_ipad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wk7QkcbnF-Y/VTpsiEZ_j8I/AAAAAAAABg8/3r281SSmNUU/s1600/FingerDerpy_race1_ipad.png" height="320" width="240" /></a></div><br /><b><i>Finger Derpy</i></b> is our first, broadly released mobile game, and it's extremely satisfying to share the game in a simple way. I can talk to someone about making games, and tell them the name of our game, and they can play it within minutes. Before, explaining the Xbox 360 and it's special download stores, and expecting them to be able to find the game later was a definite hurdle.<br /><br />Make sure you download <b><i>Finger Derpy</i></b> from the appropriate store, and tell your friends and family about it. It's a big help and support. Thank you!<br /><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-70347842691151641912015-02-25T08:18:00.002-08:002015-02-25T08:18:26.572-08:00GDC and Arcade Expo 2015<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.arcaderx.com/images/logoblkletterswhitebg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.arcaderx.com/images/logoblkletterswhitebg.png" height="142" width="320" /></a></div><br />The Louisville Arcade Expo will be March 6th-8th and will feature tons of classic arcade games and pinball machines! It's really a great show and well worth taking the whole family too. There's even lots of classic console games set up for play in different rooms around the convention.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxqddYbNsP8/UpVDkVmcSdI/AAAAAAAABH0/BbndgZ72wQs/s640/661_547136895327026_658405845_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxqddYbNsP8/UpVDkVmcSdI/AAAAAAAABH0/BbndgZ72wQs/s640/661_547136895327026_658405845_n.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div><br />Also we'll be there, showing off the new and improved changes to <a href="http://www.PigEat Ball.com">Pig Eat Ball</a>! And we'll be debuting our secret, brand new mobile game at the show!&nbsp;<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSCwz0u9w6Y/VO31GCbSf-I/AAAAAAAABfw/SfXlFgqlIuo/s1600/SamDadKD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSCwz0u9w6Y/VO31GCbSf-I/AAAAAAAABfw/SfXlFgqlIuo/s1600/SamDadKD.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What is this crazy, 4-player mess they're playing?</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Get your tickets before the show for a good discount. Kids 10 and under are free with an adult!<br /><a href="http://www.arcaderx.com/">http://www.arcaderx.com/</a><br /><br /><br /><h3>GDC 2015</h3>I'll be at the Game Developers Conference next week for a few days, catching up with other developers, and listening to some talks. If you see me around and wanna chat, come up and say 'hi'!<br />I look something like this:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/vwts9ppfjGKjrhQd4O1ls2aiUzKUl-Afcap97qd1gEiOj_Jj2YFONsuR6ftmnXItT9282VdZrBp4dWUW1IIui8rkVLygNM6XyOyXDAHfBZW5oh0YC23BOJHbV11opjm5_vPWXZSul1D0SQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/vwts9ppfjGKjrhQd4O1ls2aiUzKUl-Afcap97qd1gEiOj_Jj2YFONsuR6ftmnXItT9282VdZrBp4dWUW1IIui8rkVLygNM6XyOyXDAHfBZW5oh0YC23BOJHbV11opjm5_vPWXZSul1D0SQ" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6433256125895820613.post-8683501338120971892015-02-05T08:13:00.002-08:002015-02-05T08:13:46.610-08:00Tampon Run is Good Art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://f.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-7-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://f.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-7-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i>Tampon Run</i> is a game designed by two young women who met at a 'Girls Who Code' workshop. The game is good art because it challenges the player to reconsider a normally taboo topic, and because it reflects real events for the viewer to ponder anew.<br />The gameplay has players running and throwing tampons at people coming at them. The tampons are used as weapons. This may seem silly or forced, but it was motivated by real-life political events.&nbsp;<br /><br />In 2013, during a vote for an anti-abortion bill, women that were allowed into the Texas State Capitol were having their <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/tampons-confiscated-texas_n_3588177.html">tampons and maxi-pads confiscated</a>, for fear of them being used as weapons, that is, being thrown. Ironically guns were still allowed into the Capitol. <br />Let's think about that--actual weapons were allowed in, but tampons were not. The tampons were confiscated so as not to have them thrown and maintain the 'rules of decorum' but it sends a mixed message, that in a way, the tampons are more dangerous.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-2-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-2-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" height="180" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i>Tampon Run</i> plays with that concept, by having the player throwing the tampons as real weapons and stopping people coming at the player. It's also funny to consider the title as a 'tampon run' (going to get tampons from the store) and a play on title '<i>Temple Run</i>' the hugely popular, infinite runner series.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://h.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-3-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://h.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-3-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><br />Putting a game on the AppStore that talks about menstruation and tampons is a bold move, because, while there are tampon timer apps for women, this puts the game in front of a bigger audience. It has the potential to help younger men and women consider the topic of menstruation and hopefully demystify it (through explanations at the start of the game) and remove some of the stigma.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://h.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-9-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://h.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slideshow/2015/02/3041781-slide-s-9-the-teenage-girls-behind-the-worlds.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><br />Nathan Foutshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088421053683726036noreply@blogger.com0